Book 27 - The Eye of the Storm
by GailDunn2
Summary: WARNING: CONTAINS SOME ADULT CONTENT. Dean is back, but there is some fallout connected with his return. Gail's true parentage remains a mystery, but there are other concerns that take priority. The Supernatural movie makes its debut against an ominous backdrop. Ominous things are coming from Nevada, and the battle lines are being drawn in Heaven as the vote will soon be held.
1. Viva Las Vegas, Part II

Chapter 1 - Viva Las Vegas, Part II

Everybody had been too drunk to drive and there had been no Angels left at the bar, so Frank took a cab home.

He let himself into the house and closed the door quietly behind him. He sat down on the stairs to take off his shoes because he didn't want to make a lot of noise, and also because if he tried to lean down to do it, he would probably just fall down.

He grinned. That had been a good time, though. He hoped Jody wasn't too mad, but he'd just been so happy to see Dean, alive and well. People had been worried about Sam, Cas and Bobby, and rightly so, but Frank had been just as deep in the throes of grief as they had been. Just because he didn't have as long of a history with Dean didn't mean that Frank loved him any less.

He tossed his shoes on the floor, and they made a loud, thumping sound. Oops. He hadn't meant to do that. He was trying to be quiet. "Shhh," Frank said out loud. "You're supposed to be quiet. Jody's trying to sleep."

"I'm in the kitchen, you jackass," Jody called out. "And if you're trying to be quiet, you're doing a piss-poor job of it."

Frank grinned sheepishly. He walked through to the kitchen from the front hallway. His wife was sitting at the table with a cup of tea and a plate of cookies in front of her.

"Where's Rob?" Frank asked.

"In bed," she said shortly. "I guess it's hard to see the clock, when you're seeing double."

"Are you mad at me for staying out late with the guys?" Frank inquired.

Jody's expression softened. "No, Frank. I know you needed the outlet. I just didn't want Rob around you guys when the talk started getting R-rated. I think he's still a little too young and impressionable to be hearing about chicks and whorehouses. I'm trying to teach him to respect women."

Frank went to the stove to put the kettle on. "I'm sorry, Jodes. You're right," he said.

"Actually, we had a good talk when we got back here," Jody said, snagging another cookie. "I found out that, despite his Uncle Dean's best efforts, Rob actually does have a fairly healthy respect for women."

Frank rolled his eyes comically. "Thank God, 'cause I thought Gail was gonna kill Dean. Of course, if she did, she knows how to revive him. Although I don't think it'd be as easy, the second time."

Jody sighed. "Frank, I don't want Rob to go to Canada."

Her husband paused in the act of retrieving a mug from the cupboard. "Why not? I know their money looks weird, but they're nice people," he quipped.

Jody knew how Frank got sometimes, so she ignored that and said, "He's our boy, Frank. And now that we're going to have a baby, I just want our whole family to be together."

He kept his back to her while he got a teabag out of the canister. "I thought we agreed," Frank said, but his heart started to beat faster.

"I know we did, but..." Jody started to choke up. Frank could hear it in her voice, and he wheeled around, rushing over to her. He got down on his knees in front of her. "What's the matter?" Frank asked his wife.

"Everybody was worried about Sam, and Bobby, and Cas," Jody said in a thick voice, "and I was worried about you. But I never got the chance to work through my own grief about Dean. He and Sam and I go way back, too, you know. He's like the really annoying brother I never wanted." Jody smiled through her tears. "And then, we decided that Rob should spend some time away. I thought that I could handle that, because I thought that it was the right thing to do for our son. But that was a lot to lose, all at once. When I found out that I was pregnant, the happiness we felt overshadowed everything, and then, we were investigating that Scanlon woman. Then, miraculously, Dean was alive again. And I was so happy, Frank. We may tease your sister sometimes, but she's one hell of a woman. We all know how much Cas was against the idea, but she was stubborn enough to do it, anyway. Thank God. He must love her beyond everything else, if he put his entire belief system aside to help her do that spell. So, Dean is back, and when I saw you guys up at the bar, Rob just looked so tall, and so grown up - " She choked up again, and Frank put his arms around his wife. He knew exactly what she meant. Wasn't it just yesterday that the three of them had gone to Disneyland and he and Robbie had ridden all the rides until they'd been on the verge of throwing up? Now, Rob was almost as tall as Jody, his voice was changing, and he'd just had his first taste of beer. Where did the time go?

Jody came out of the embrace. "Anyway, he and I had a good, long talk tonight, and we both decided we want him to stay right here, with us. It's where he belongs, Frank. I hope Barry and Tommy aren't too disappointed. But I told him very sternly that he has to get a job, and then I'll enroll him in high school in the fall. We'll keep on giving him training sessions at the bunker once in a while, but I told him he'll also have to do other, normal things. Take up a sport. Go to the movies, or the mall. Normal stuff. I told him he had to promise to do that, or we'll ship him off again."

Frank wrapped his arms around his wife and squeezed her tight for a moment, and then he eased up, remembering her condition. "Thank you," he said, and now he was on the verge of tears, too. "Thank you," he repeated, and the kettle began to whistle.

Gail was looking at Cas with her eyebrows raised and her arms folded in front of her. "So," she said coolly. "The world's oldest Angel, making a visit to the world's oldest profession."

"You know that nothing happened there, Gail," he pleaded with her. "You know me."

"Yes, and I know Dean, too," she retorted. "He's lucky I didn't zap him into next week. It's just like Las Vegas, all over again."

"Nothing happened there, either," Cas insisted. He walked over to where she was standing. "You know that nothing could ever have happened. You are the only one for me. You're the only one I've ever wanted, and the only one I will ever need. Please don't be angry, Gail." He smiled ingratiatingly. "If it would help, I could punch Dean the next time we see him."

Her lips twitched. "Actually, that MIGHT help." Then, she let her husband off the hook. "Come here," she said, opening her arms. "Why do you have to be so adorable?"

"I'm glad you still think so," Cas said, wrapping his arms around her. "Am I forgiven?"

Gail shook her head. "There's nothing to forgive, Cas. I was just giving you a hard time. What you did, or didn't do, before we met, is your business."

"But we did the reverse ritual," Cas said anxiously. "That was your proof that I have been faithful to you, and you alone."

Gail looked at his face. He was really agitated. Now she felt badly about having a little fun with him. Of course nothing had happened. She knew her husband. She could just picture the stricken look on his face when Dean had tried to hire a prostitute for him. She smiled. She almost wished she'd been there to see that. But then again, maybe not. She would have also zapped the unfortunate girl into next week, to keep Dean company.

"I know that, Cas. It's OK, really," Gail said. "I love you. Now let's stop talking and start kissing."

"That sounds good to me," he said with relief. He leaned down and kissed her on the mouth. "I love you so much, my darling. You are my entire reason for existing."

They kissed again, and Gail smiled. "Hey, I just thought of something. For the first time in forever, we don't have anything that we have to do tomorrow. No missions, no deadlines, nothing."

"Didn't you say you wanted to go over to the bunker early in the morning?" Cas asked her.

Gail shrugged. "Nahhh, I just said that to mess with those guys. I'd much rather stay here, with you. We can stay in bed for as long as we want. Haven't we always said we wanted to do that?"

"Then it'll be quite some time before our friends see us again," Cas said charmingly. He scooped her up in his arms and brought her over to the bed. Seconds later, their clothes were off, and they were making love.

The men started to wake up in the bunker around mid-morning. Barry shuffled down to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. It was funny, really. He and Tommy had just gotten home to Vancouver, and now they were back here again. It wasn't to stay, or anything, but he and Tommy had gotten way too drunk last night to even think about leaving town. Besides, Jody had taken Rob to stay at her and Frank's place before things had gotten too out of hand at the bar. And it was just as well. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had that much to drink.

His head had been reminding him that he wasn't a teenager any more, and now, his stomach was weighing in. Yikes. But they'd had a lot of fun. He also didn't remember the last time he'd laughed that much. Lucifer was gone, Dean wasn't dead, and Barry and Tommy had a wedding to plan.

Everyone else started to stir shortly afterwards, and once the four of them were sitting at the table nursing mugs of coffee, Dean said, "Where's Frank?"

"Don't you remember?" Sam asked his brother. "He stumbled out of there about an hour before we did. Said he had to get home and find out how mad Jody was."

"Yeah, we all joked that we would see him again here in the bunker, after she kicked him out," Tommy added.

Dean thought about that for a moment. "Ohhh, yeah," he said slowly. Then: "What about Cas, and Gail?"

"What about them?" Barry said.

"When did they leave?" Dean inquired.

"A few minutes after you told Gail about the time you took Cas to a whorehouse," Sam replied, grinning. It hurt him to grin, but he couldn't help it. Dean was damn lucky to be alive today, on a couple of fronts.

"Oh, no," Dean groaned. "I didn't."

"You sure did," Sam answered cheerfully. "And based on the look on both of their faces, I might stay away from them for a while, if I were you. Cas is likely doing some major penance right now. She probably has him down on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floors."

Cas was on his knees in front of his wife, but they were engaged in a much more pleasurable activity at the moment. They had spent the entire night alternating between making love and talking about their family and friends. This was what it felt like to be happy and worry-free. Gail was holding his head gently and he was teasing her with his tongue, barely touching her with it. They both liked to do that sometimes, because the feeling was more intense once contact was finally made. But she couldn't wait any longer. She plunged her hands into his hair and brought his head to her, and he smiled. This was his best feeling, when he knew he was making her so happy. She cried out his name, telling him how good it was, and how much she loved him.

"Yeah, poor Cas," Dean said, looking shamefaced. "I'd better make it up to the two of them somehow."

"Well, you'd better hurry," Barry pointed out. "They're going to have their election to deal with, soon. So you might not be seeing them that much, while all of that's going on."

Dean was startled. He hadn't really thought of that. It was entirely possible that Cas and Gail might not be around very much for a while. He would miss them, but it would be kind of nice not to be involved in Heaven's b.s. too, for a change, Dean thought. Barry and Tommy would go back up to Canada, Frank and Jody had their baby thing, and the Angels would be back in Heaven. Bobby was with them now, too. Which meant that Dean and Sammy could get back out on the road, doing what they did best.

Still, Dean owed his Angel friends, big-time, and he wanted to have one more party before everyone went their separate ways. So he took out his cell phone.

Gail was laying on her side now, and Cas was spooning her. He was kissing her shoulder and the back of her neck and caressing her gently. She had her eyes closed, and she was smiling. He pressed himself against her, and she wiggled her hips. Cas made a low noise in his throat.

Cas's cell phone began to ring on the nightstand. But Gail had shifted her position enough to grant him access now. "Do you want me to answer that?" Cas said softly into her ear. But he moved his hips forward anyway and slipped into her, making another low noise.

"I don't know," Gail said idly. She opened her legs further. "Do you want to answer it?"

"No," Cas said. He grabbed her hip and thrust himself forward, hard. He'd learned how to do that without hurting her.

Gail gave a cry. She took his hand from her hip and pulled his arm around her. "Good. That's what Voice Mail is for," she told him. She wiggled again, then started kissing his hand and licking his fingers.

Cas was gone when she did that. He moaned loudly, burying his face in her hair. He pushed into her a couple more times, and then he was still, for the moment.

He cuddled her in that position for a bit, and then she said, "Maybe you should check to see if there's a message. I guess we'd better stay on top of these things." Gail reached up and grabbed Cas's phone from the nightstand. She rolled over to face Cas, handing it to him. He swiped the screen. "Dean," he told her. He lay on his back against the pillows, pulling his wife close to him with his free arm. "We'll see what he wants," Cas said. He hit Redial.

Gail put her arm around her husband and laid her head on his chest, smiling happily. A phone call from Dean. What a blessing. Considering the fact that he'd been dead barely a week ago, a call from him would be very welcome any time, from now on.

"Hello, Dean," Cas said into the phone. "How are you feeling today?"

"Didn't you get my message?" Dean asked him.

"What message?" Cas replied.

Dean rolled his eyes. Unbelievable. Guy finally gets Voice Mail after years of their nagging him to do it, and then he doesn't even listen to it. He sighed. "I'm calling to invite you guys to Vegas. These guys pointed out to me that we're probably all gonna be spending a lot more time apart from each other, at least for a while, anyway. So, I want to have one last big blowout before you and Gail have to put your halos back on. You're gonna be campaigning for the Big Job soon; we can't have any pictures of you in Vegas, showing up in the tabloids."

Cas smiled. "I highly doubt anything like that would ever happen. But it does sound like a lot of fun. Here." He put the phone on Speaker and laid it on the blanket. "Tell Gail about your idea."

Dean repeated what he'd just said to Cas, rolling his eyes again. Most people would just...never mind. Deep breaths.

Gail was delighted. "That's a fantastic idea, Dean! I'd love it! Who's all going?"

Dean looked at Barry and Tommy. "Why don't you guys come with? Then you can go back to the land of polar bears and hockey pucks in a couple of days."

"Polar bears?" Barry echoed. "Where on earth would you even get that from?"

"You've got a point about the hockey pucks, though. The playoffs have already started," Tommy chipped in.

"See, this is what I'm talking about," Dean said. "Canada is Backwards Land. Hockey playoffs in the spring and summer. It's baseball season, you guys."

"Ummm...do you need Cas and me for this scintillating conversation?" Gail said dryly.

"Sorry," Dean told her. "Anyway, what do you say we go tomorrow morning? Sammy's feeling a little rough today, so I think we'll just relax and recharge the old batteries." Sam rolled his eyes. Oh, and Dean wasn't? But he let it go. An annoying Dean was still way better than no Dean at all.

"That sounds good. We'll do that, too. Relax, and recharge," Cas said.

"But you're Angels. You don't sleep," Dean pointed out.

"Oh, we'll think of something to do," Cas said, smiling at his wife. "See you tomorrow." He hit End Call, then tossed the phone lightly onto the nightstand on his side of the bed. "Here you go, Ralph," Cas said to the stuffed penguin. "If anyone else calls, take a message."

Gail laughed. "If only he could."

"That's all right; that's why I have Voice Mail," Cas said to her. "I just don't listen to it when Dean calls, because I know it drives him crazy."

She laughed again. "You're funny when you don't have to worry about imminent danger."

Cas cuddled her to him. "The only danger I can foresee today is tiring you out."

Her lips twitched. "While I can see that might be a real possibility, it sounds like a challenge to me," she said pertly. "And you know how I like a good challenge." She climbed on top of him and started to kiss him on the mouth. His arms wrapped around her, and his hands started to caress her back. She poked her tongue out and he responded eagerly, using his tongue. In a minute or so, she could feel him move underneath her, so she eased her body down and took him in her mouth. He whimpered, and his hands flew to her head. He stroked her hair, telling her how much he loved her. Then he lost his words, making inarticulate sounds of pleasure. As much as Cas was happiest when his wife expressed her pleasure as freely as she did with him, Gail was twice as happy to see and hear her husband like this, because she knew it had been a lot harder for him to just let go in this way.

After a little while, when they were resting again, Gail looked up at her husband. "I wonder how Frank's feeling today," she said. "Hopefully, Jody didn't get too mad at him for last night."

"I don't think she would have," Cas responded. "She's a very sensible woman, but she does seem pretty understanding, as well."

"I still can't believe they're having a baby," Gail said. "I'm so happy for Frank. I just hope everything works out with Rob."

Cas frowned. "He's angry about a lot of things, some of which are probably going to be mitigated by time, and maturity. But there are some things that can't be fixed, my love. They can only be coped with."

Gail nodded. She knew exactly what he meant. There were a lot of things they had all been through in the past which couldn't be un-done. But it wasn't the things that happened to you that determined your character, it was how you dealt with them and grew as an individual that did. "I'm looking forward to going to Vegas with the guys," she said after a moment. "We haven't been to the Secret Garden in a while. And you should play some poker. We'll give some of your winnings to charity and buy Frank and Jody baby gifts with what's left."

Cas pulled her closer to him. It was funny, really; two Angels, having the time of their lives in Las Vegas. His heart sank as he thought about the upcoming election in Heaven. Xavier and the board had thought that it was wrong for them to go to Las Vegas, and now, it seemed like Patricia would probably feel the same way. Now, Cas was really glad that Dean had suggested this trip. Depending on how the election turned out, it could be a while before they were able to do anything like that again. One way, or the other.

Frank and Jody and Rob were sitting in the kitchen at their house that morning. Frank was feeling a little rough, but mainly, he was just so damn happy that he didn't care.

When Rob had come downstairs in the morning, Frank and Jody had already been in the kitchen with the coffee on, waiting for him. Rob had looked at his dad with amusement. "Did you guys get really drunk last night?" he asked Frank.

"Yeah, pretty much," Frank answered, nodding his head. Then he stopped, because that hurt a little too much. He put a hand to his forehead. "I wouldn't recommend it," he added, wincing.

"I told your Dad what you and I talked about last night, and he really wants you to stay, too," Jody told Rob. She opened the fridge, rooting around for anything she could put together for breakfast. There were some eggs, and some orange juice that passed the sniff test. Now that she knew they were going to be here for a while, she would have to do a shopping. It was going to be so great to just get in the car and get out there. It had been so long since any of them had been able to do that. Funny how you took such little things for granted.

"So you're OK with me staying here, Dad?" Rob asked Frank.

"Of course I am," Frank said. "We were just trying to do what we thought was best for you. But we were wrong, Rob. Our family needs to be together." Then he grinned. "You're gonna have to learn how to change a diaper, though."

Rob shrugged. "Sure. I don't care," he said. "It'll be great to have a little brother or sister. Somebody I can torment, and boss around. Like you did with Aunt Gail."

Frank smiled. "Up top." He stuck his hand out and high-fived Rob.

Jody rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. She brought Rob his orange juice, then moved back over to the counter to make the eggs. "Well, I'll have to make sure to have a girl, then, and even the odds in this house a bit."

"You're going to," Rob blurted out. His parents stared at him, and he flushed. "Sorry. I can't help it."

"It's OK; don't apologize," Frank said quietly. "Gail used to do that to me all the time. I know you guys can't help it when that happens. We've been trying to find out what's going on with that so-called fertility clinic, but so far, we haven't gotten anywhere."

Rob shrugged again. "I know, Dad. It'll be a while before Sam's guy finds the journal. It's OK. I can wait."

Frank and Jody exchanged glances. This was going to take a little getting used to, even for Frank. Gail had had to touch someone to do her psychic thing, and Frank had simply avoided her if he didn't want her to know what was on his mind. Half the time she did anyway, because they knew each other so well. But Rob's gift, if they could safely call it that, was a lot more powerful, and a lot more random, too.

The husband and wife smiled at each other. "A baby girl," Jody said. "That's terrific."

"I hope I didn't spoil it for you," Rob said.

"Not at all," she said. She started cracking open a few eggs, then scrambled them in a bowl. After she poured the mixture into the skillet, she turned around and looked at the two of them. "Oh, and just so you know, today you're both getting a 'bye. But, starting tomorrow, Rob's going to start looking for a part-time job, and you're going to help out more around the house."

"Ma'am, yes, Ma'am," Frank said, snapping off a salute. "I'm gonna call Tommy's cell. Hopefully, the guys'll be awake by now. We'll have to break the news to them that Rob is staying."

Tommy hung up the phone. He and Barry and the Winchester brothers were still sitting around the kitchen table. They'd been nursing their cups of coffee and talking about Vegas. The Canadian men had been saying that they would love to go, but they would have to refuse. They were responsible for Rob now. They had promised Frank and Jody that they would make sure that young Rob got a part-time gig somewhere and started having some normal teenage experiences. And that certainly wouldn't include a trip to Sin City.

But now, Frank had called them, apologizing and saying that Rob wanted to stay here in Kansas with his mom and dad. Both Barry and Tommy were disappointed, but they understood.

"Well, I guess we're good to go, guys," Tommy told Sam and Dean. He told them about the new arrangement with Rob. He looked at Barry. "What do you say, hon? Want to go to Vegas?"

"Sure, I'd like that," Barry said. Then he clutched at his stomach. "But right now, I think I'd like to go back to bed for a while. I'm not feeling so great."

Tommy grinned. "That's right, you were never a reporter. We used to drink until the bars closed, then get up and file our stories first thing in the morning. Try reporting from a war zone with a pounding hangover sometime." Then he grimaced. "Having said that, I feel like crap, too. I think I'll join you."

"Hey, you don't have to justify yourselves to us," Sam quipped. "You guys are adults, and you're engaged. You can do whatever you want."

"Actually, it's funny you should say that," Barry said, smiling. "We were joking around last night that we were going to wait until Dean passed out, and then one of us was going to climb into bed with him, just to see his reaction when he woke up."

"Oh, har, har. Very funny," Dean said sarcastically. Then he looked at Sam. "But we should totally do that to Cas, sometime."

Sam laughed, but then he put his hands on his head. "Ow," he remarked. "I think I'll go back to bed for a couple of hours, too." He rose, then looked down at Barry and Tommy. "And, no offense, but I think I'll lock my door," he wisecracked.

"Don't worry," Barry said, rising quickly from his seat. He went rushing down the hallway towards the bathroom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my husband-to-be," Tommy said to the brothers. He got up from his chair. "I'll go make sure he's all right. And just for the record, Dean, I think it would be hilarious if we did that to Cas. The only problem is, Barry and I would be fighting over who got to be the one to get into bed with him. Just like we did with you." He winked, then left the room.

Dean was taken aback for a moment, and then he started to smile. "Those guys are all right," he said to his brother.

"I'm not sure if I should be relieved, or offended," Sam said affably. "See ya." He left the kitchen and headed to his bedroom.

Dean sat at the table for a minute or two, smiling to himself. Life was good. Well, except for the nausea and the pounding headache. But still, considering the recent alternative, he would definitely take it. He would take that all day long.

Frank was starting to feel rough again too, so Jody took pity on him and told him to go back upstairs and lie down for a while, while she and Rob went to the grocery store. For a wonder, the boy didn't moan and complain about being pressed into service for such a dull errand. Probably just the idea of being able to go out into the world was still so new that he didn't care so much about the destination, as about the journey.

As they drove to the supermarket, Rob looked sidelong at his mom. "Can I ask you something, if you'll promise not to get mad?"

Jody's forehead wrinkled. "Sure, Rob. What is it?"

"What was Crowley talking about last night, when he talked about Dad working for him in the past?" Rob inquired.

Damn, Jody thought. She'd been somewhat unrealistically hoping that he had forgotten about that. "It's a long and complicated story," she said slowly.

Rob sighed. "So that means you're not gonna tell me."

"I didn't say that, I just..." Jody took a deep breath, then let it out. This was parenting, right here. Kids had questions, and it was your job to answer them as best you could. Of course, most kids Rob's age had questions about school, or sex. Not about their parents being mixed up with the King of Hell. Poor Rob. Wait till he found out that his father had worked for Crowley as a Knight of Hell, and his mother had actually dated Crowley. It had only been one date, but still...And just wait until Rob found out that his Uncle Cas was actually Crowley's brother. Oh, boy. They'd better start saving now, for the therapy bills they would have to pay in the future.

"I promise you, we'll talk about all of that over dinner tonight," Jody told Rob. "I'll make whatever you want. What do you feel like having?"

"I really kind of liked that beef bourguignon thing that Barry used to make," her adoptive son remarked casually.

Jody glanced at him. Was he kidding with that? He didn't seem to be. Great. She would have to remember to thank Barry for introducing Rob to gourmet cooking. She wondered, if she opened a couple of cans of beef stew and poured the stuff over some rice, if he'd be able to tell the difference.

"I'm just kidding, Mom," Rob said, smirking. "I know that Barry was trying his best, but I'm still a kid. I'd much rather have pizza, or sloppy joes."

Jody smiled with relief. "Now those, I can do," she told him. "Those I can do."

Dean and Sam, Tommy and Barry, and Cas and Gail checked into their respective rooms and then met downstairs in the lobby.

"What do you guys want to do first?" Dean asked them.

"I'd like to check out the Poker Room," Barry said. "See how it compares to my old place in Vancouver."

"Why don't you guys all play some poker for a while?" Gail said.

"What will you do, then?" Cas asked her.

"I'll just wander around for a bit," she replied. "Maybe play a slot machine or two." She poked Dean. "Give me some money," she said to him.

"Ask your husband for some," Dean said, making a face.

"Excuse me? Who brought you back to life, just recently?" she retorted, holding out her hand.

"She's got you there," Sam said to his brother.

Dean sighed, reaching for his wallet. "Psych," Gail said, smirking. "I just wanted to see if you'd actually do it. Don't worry, I'm saving up for a really huge favour in the future." She turned to Cas, who already had his wallet out. He gave her some money, and she kissed him on the cheek. Then she flashed Dean a grin and flounced away.

"You're a lucky son of a bitch, you know that, Cas?" Dean said quietly.

"I know that, Dean," Cas replied affectionately. He watched his wife until she melted into the crowd, and then he turned to his friends. "Let's go play some poker, gentlemen."

Gail wandered around idly for a while. Cas had given her quite a bit of money, but she wanted to make it last, because she wanted the men to have their time together.

She and Cas had gotten tired of always having to go over to the bunker when they wanted some ready cash, so they'd taken to keeping it in the bureau drawer, just like they used to do when they'd been living in Vancouver, on the run from the tribunal.

Sam and Dean had teased them about that. "Can you imagine the poor guy who tries to break into Cas and Gail's house if Cas is home?" Sam had said.

"Never mind that, imagine the poor guy who tries to break in when GAIL'S home," Dean had shot back. "He would have no idea what he was dealing with."

"In either case, it would be inadvisable, to say the least," Cas had agreed, his lips twitching.

"Or if Cas and Gail are walking somewhere at night, and some mugger tries to get Gail to hand over her purse," Sam said, continuing the thread.

"Yeah," Dean had laughed. "Cas would take out his Angel blade and say, 'That's not a knife. THIS is a knife.'"

"Wait a minute; I know that. It's from that movie, Crocodile Dundee. Right?" Cas had asked the brothers.

Dean had grinned. "Well, well. Look who's getting better at his movie references."

Gail had been thoughtful during that exchange. "I remember getting mugged by that guy in Vancouver," she mused aloud.

Cas had frowned at the memory. "Yes, I remember that, too. Barry really helped us out on that occasion. He's been a good friend to us for quite a while now."

"Well, that certainly wouldn't happen now," Gail had remarked. "I'm very capable of defending myself." And she was glad that was the case. Now Cas wouldn't have to worry about her all the time, if they happened to be apart for some reason. But if the two of them were together, unless he was incapacitated for some reason, she would always give Cas the opportunity to defend her, first. She knew it made Cas happy to do so, and the part of her that was somewhat inexplicably old-fashioned loved it when he did. Not exactly Feminism 101, maybe, but it was sweet, and it was also sexy as hell.

Gail was thinking about that now as she wandered around the casino, and she was also reminiscing about their past times here. They'd had a lot of good times in Las Vegas, despite the fact that the first time they had come here, Metatron had brutally murdered her. Now he was dead, because he had protected her from Lucifer. Who would ever have imagined? He'd been forgotten in all of the grief over Dean's death, but now that Dean was back with them, Gail took a moment to feel regret over Metatron's death. He had truly reformed himself in the end, and he had been happy doing what he was doing for the movie franchise. It was a shame he wasn't going to be around to write scripts any more.

She stopped short. No way. She couldn't be seeing this. Right in front of her was a bank of slot machines called "Lucifer's Loot". She looked up at the rolling sign for the Progressive Jackpot. Over three million dollars. This was starting to remind her of the other time, the time that she had been here alone and Bobby had sent her to the casino to win that other jackpot, thereby calling attention to herself. She had succeeded in doing that, of course, but the only attention she'd drawn was that of two human men with robbery on their minds. Cas had come to her rescue on that occasion, too. She would probably be able to handle those two guys a lot better on her own now, but she'd been so happy when Cas had shown up and dispatched the men. Then he had defied Bobby's orders and refused to leave her side. She smiled at the memory. Things were always better when Cas was with her. Always.

But she'd never wanted to be one of those clingy women, and right now, he was having fun with the guys. So she sat down at the end machine and put some money into it. Lucifer's Loot, eh? Well, as much trouble as he'd caused them in the past few years, didn't he kind of owe them? she thought, bemused.

As she started to play, Gail's mind wandered, thinking about the future. After their little fling here, she supposed that she and Cas would have to sit down and have a serious talk about what they wanted to accomplish, going forward. Gail had no illusions about being elected to the High Office; she knew it was never going to happen. But she truly didn't care. It was fun to joke around with the guys about it, but Gail didn't think a lot of people were going to vote for her. Nor did she necessarily think that they should. With Cas and now Bobby as candidates, it was pretty evident to Gail that it should be one of them. And the feminist in her didn't have a single problem with that, because both men were eminently qualified, and either one of them would do an excellent job, in her opinion. Pretty much the only reason that Gail was going to stay in as a candidate at this point was to try to siphon the feminist vote away from Patricia.

So she supposed that she and Cas would need to campaign a little bit. That would be kind of weird, because technically, they would be opponents. But that alone wouldn't occupy them full time. She'd had an idea about something Cas could be doing in Heaven going forward as far back as Romania, but there had been no sense talking about it then, not until Lucifer had been dealt with.

Gail's mind had been so preoccupied that she didn't even know it at first when she'd hit the jackpot. The reels spun and suddenly, five little Devil's heads came up. Her machine froze, and then the alarm bells started going off.

Her heart started to beat faster. No way. Then she began to smile. Oh, my God. Talk about poetic justice. Wait till she told the guys.

A short while and a couple of applications of the two-finger system later, Gail entered the Poker Room. She sauntered up to the High Limit table. Cas and Dean were playing there.

"Hi, sweetie," Gail said to Cas. She leaned down to kiss him on the cheek, and he put his arm around her waist and gave her a squeeze.

"Broke already?" Dean asked her. "Well, you're in luck. Mister Moneybags here is cleaning up, as usual. I'm sure he could probably give you some more."

Gail smiled. "Is that your not-so-subtle way of telling me to get lost?"

"Nooo," Dean said quickly. "I would never say that to you."

"Smart man," she said, nodding her head. "But it just so happens that I'm not broke, not at all. In fact, I'm here to tell you the good news. Better still, I'll show you." She reached into her pocket and showed Cas the picture the casino had taken of her standing by the slot machine, holding the huge cheque.

"No," Cas breathed. He looked up at her. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Gail said, breaking into a grin.

"What are you guys talking about? Lemme see," Dean said impatiently. Gail walked around the table and showed him the photo, and he swore loudly. "You guys have to be the luckiest - " Dean started to say, and Gail leaned down, putting her arms around him. "Yeah, we are lucky, because we have people like you in our lives," Gail said sweetly. "Wonderful, understanding people."

Dean was suspicious. "Why are you sucking up?"

"Because I want Cas to myself tonight," she told him. "You guys can have him for another hour or so, and then I'm taking him. You and the other men can go out on the town tonight, and then you can have him back tomorrow. We'll stay out all night tomorrow, if you want. We can go to a show, or something. Anything. My treat."

"Damn right it's gonna be your treat," Dean grumbled.

Gail came back around the table to stand by her husband again. He had put the Reserve down on his spot, and he was looking up at her inquiringly. "What did you have in mind?" Cas asked her.

"I'd like to re-create our first date," she told him.

Cas started to smile. "I think that's a wonderful idea," he said. But then, his face fell. "I didn't pack my suit," he advised her. He moved as if to rise from the table, but Gail put her hands on his shoulders. "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything," she said to him. "You stay here and have fun with Dean, and I'll be back in an hour or so."

"All right, my love," Cas said.

Gail blew Dean a kiss, and he stuck his tongue out at her, making her laugh. Then she told them she'd be back in about an hour, and she left.

Just over an hour afterwards, she was back. The instant she arrived at the table, Cas jumped up from his chair. "Cashing out," he said to the dealer.

"Me, too," Dean said.

Cas had several racks of chips to cash out, and Dean had a couple, as well. "It looks like you guys did OK," Gail remarked.

"OK? Okay? Did you tell the other guys how YOU did, earlier?" Dean asked her incredulously.

"No, but I think I'll go find them now," Gail said, looking around the main room. She saw Sam right away. Even sitting down, he was taller than most of the men. Then she saw Barry and Tommy, playing together, at a table behind him. "I'll see you in a minute," Gail told Cas and Dean.

A few minutes later, they were all gathered around Sam's table, watching the hand he was involved in. He lost that hand, but he still finished ahead of where he'd started. They all trooped over to the cash cage with him. Cas took Gail's hand. "Well, this is where we leave you, gentlemen," he said to their friends. "We'll all get together again tomorrow morning."

"Hey, I just thought of something," Sam piped up, grinning. "If you two really want to re-create the day of your first date, Cas should punch somebody out, before we leave the Poker Room."

"There's still time, Mister Smarty-Pants," Gail retorted. Then she put her hand on Barry's arm. "I hope you don't mind, you guys," she said to him and Tommy. "We'll all spend the day together tomorrow, and everything will be on us."

"Works for me," Barry said, smiling down at her.

"Cas and I are going to get washed up, and then change for dinner," Gail told Sam and Dean. "I'll get ready in our room. I brought his suit to your room. He can get ready there. Then you can come and pick me up, once you're ready," she said to Cas.

"You guys are married now," Dean pointed out. "It's not like you haven't seen each other - "

Gail gave him a baleful look. "We're re-creating our first date, Dean. He's dressing at your place."

"You can dress at our place, if you want," Tommy said, and Gail raised an eyebrow to him. "You said that just a little too eagerly, Mister," Gail joked, and they all laughed.

Gail went up to her and Cas's room. She showered, then blow-dried her hair and dressed. She had bought a new dress for the occasion. She couldn't remember the last time she had worn a dress. Cas's eyes always lit up when he saw her in one. She had even put heels on.

Meanwhile, Cas had showered, shaved, and put on some cologne. Barry and Tommy were there too, waiting to see Cas off almost like parents watching their teenager leave for the prom. Then they were going to go out with the brothers for the evening. Barry was looking at Cas closely now. "Well, you look good, and you smell nice, but there's something missing," Barry said. He snapped his fingers. "I've got it. Hold on for just a sec." He left the room, then came back in a minute or so. "There," Barry said. He had a blue pocket square in his hand. He put it in the breast pocket of Cas's suit. "It just gives you a bit more colour, and it also brings out your eyes," Barry said to Cas. "See?" He pointed to the mirror. Cas checked his reflection, and he smiled. "Yes, I do," he told Barry. "Thank you."

"Hey Barry, you know how you're always saying you don't want to sound like a stereotype?" Dean wisecracked.

Barry's hand shot up from behind Cas's back and he gave Dean the finger, making the men laugh.

"Don't wait up," Cas quipped, and he left the room. He walked around the corner of the hallway and knocked on his and Gail's door. Gail answered a moment later, and sure enough, his eyes lit up as he saw her.

"You look beautiful," Cas told her in a soft voice.

"So do you," she replied. She stepped forward, standing close to him. "And you smell great, too. Is that...?"

"Aramis," Cas said, smiling.

"Oh, now you're not playing fair," Gail said, smiling. "This is supposed to be our very first date, you know. There are no guarantees as to how it's going to end."

"Well, we're in Las Vegas, so I just thought I would play the odds," Cas said charmingly.

"Let's go, Captain Adorable," Gail quipped, and Cas laughed. "I like that," he remarked. They closed the door of their room behind them and walked downstairs to the restaurant. On the way down, they stood close together in the elevator. "This was a wonderful idea," Cas told her. "Very romantic."

"I thought so, too," she replied. "It was kind of getting to me, Dean calling me one of the guys. So I thought I might try to be a little more feminine, for a change. But that's bad news for you, in a way, because it means you'll have to pay for dinner," she quipped.

"I'll be glad to," Cas said, smiling. "Anything you want, my love." They were almost on the ground floor now. He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips, and then he touched her forehead, as if sweeping away an errant lock of hair. Then she did the same to him, and Cas laughed softly. "I was giving you your appetite," he said into her ear.

"Oh," she said sheepishly. "I just thought you were being romantic."

"Just wait," Cas said. "The night is young, yet." Then he touched his own forehead, pretending as though he was scratching himself there. Gail looked at him curiously, and then she remembered: there were security cameras pretty much everywhere in casinos, even in the elevators. Her husband was one smart cookie.

They were shown to their table, and Cas made sure he was the one to pull out her chair for her. He didn't always do that anymore, so he wanted to make a point of it. The host had been a little taken aback by that, but he had made a smooth recovery.

As they ate, Gail told him the full story of having won the jackpot. She had used the two-finger system to get paid in cash. Cas gaped at her. "You're kidding," he said, astonished. "They paid you over three million dollars in cash?"

Gail grinned. "Yep. I didn't know if it was going to work, either, but I put some extra 'oomph' into it, and before I knew it, the slots manager was coming out of the cash cage with a briefcase full of money! Just like the movies. So I winked myself over to the bunker, and put it in the safe there. I think that's a little too much to put in the bureau drawer."

Cas smiled. "So, what are you thinking?"

"Probably the same kinds of things you are," she replied. "Money for the women's shelter, college funds for Rob and new niece or nephew, baby things, a top-up for Sam and Dean. And, I'd like to pay for Barry and Tommy's wedding."

"That's a great idea," Cas enthused. "We'll do all of that, plus anything else you can think of."

"I know I don't always behave like the most Angelic of Angels, but I've gotta say, it feels really good to help people, Cas," she said sincerely.

He smiled. "It certainly does. And, for the record, I think you're a far better Angel than you give yourself credit for, Gail. Many times, you've been a better one than I have."

She lowered her voice. "Thank you, sweetie. But, again for the record, I think you're going to make a wonderful God."

Cas looked thoughtful. "You know, it's funny. I always resisted the notion, because I thought I might be too heavy-handed, or that I might screw it up. But now that I have you by my side, I really think I might be able to do a good job."

She reached out across the table and took his hand. "I know you can, Cas."

They smiled at each other for a bit. Then Cas paid the cheque and they went for a walk down the Strip, hand in hand.

"Do you want to get another picture taken?" Cas asked her when they got there.

"You know what?" she said. "I think we should. We both look way too good not to." They both laughed. They got their picture, and then they meandered back to the hotel.

Once they entered their room, they sat down on the little couch, just like they had on that first night. "Do you remember how nervous I was that night?" Cas asked her softly.

"Yes I do, and it was really cute," Gail replied, smiling. "For the record, if we're not over-using that phrase tonight, I was just as nervous as you were."

"It was hard to tell," he said to her. "You seemed so calm."

"That's because I knew how much I loved you," Gail told him. "And it's such a cliche, but I knew you were the one I was meant to be with."

Cas looked at her warmly. "And I knew you were the one I had waited all those millennia for."

They smiled at each other for a moment, and then Cas put his arms around her and kissed her on the mouth. She kissed him back. Then he opened her lips with his tongue, and she pulled away. "Excuse me, but aren't you taking liberties?" she said to him. "This is only our first date."

Cas looked at her uncertainly, and then he smiled. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," Gail replied. "What kind of fool would I be if I turned you down? Wait, don't answer that; it's a rhetorical question," she added quickly, and he laughed. He leaned forward to kiss her again, and this time, she didn't pull away.

"No matter how many times I'm lucky enough to find myself like this with you, please know that I will never take one moment of it for granted," Cas murmured in her ear.

"I know that, Cas, but I love you even more for saying it," she said into his.

"Good, because I'm hoping you won't think I'm too bold if I do this, then," he said, smiling. He lifted her dress and his hand touched her lightly. Then he kissed her again, using his tongue, and then his fingers were inside her underwear, stroking her. She cried out immediately, because it was so swift, and so unexpectedly sexy. Was this ever different than that first night, she thought. He had been so tentative, so uncertain. It had been sweet and endearing, but she loved the take-charge way he was now even more.

Cas undid his pants and leaned her back onto the couch cushions. Then he took off her underwear and pushed forward into her. "I couldn't wait any longer," he breathed. "I hope you don't mind."

Mind? Just when she thought he couldn't possibly get any sexier, he managed to do it somehow. There was just something about the fact that they were still mostly dressed, that was so...She wrapped her legs around him and he moaned, covering her face with kisses.

Eventually, they made it over to the bed, leaving a trail of clothes on the floor on their way there. They took their time when they felt able, enjoying the feel and the taste of each other. Then, when they needed to hurry up, they did that, too. It was strange; many couples found that their ardour cooled down the longer they were married, but if anything, theirs seemed to be heating up. They made love until dawn, and then they rested for a while. Then they called Dean, arranging to meet at the restaurant in an hour's time.

"It's not going to take an hour for us to shower and get downstairs," Gail said to her husband.

"I know," Cas said, smiling slowly. He lifted her body up, until she was positioned over his mouth. She smiled then, too. "Oh no, you don't," she told him. "Turn me around."

Cas shook his head in amazement. She was so giving. So, who was he to argue? "If you insist," he said softly. He flipped her around and they loved each other, making their sounds of pleasure. Then they rested for a few more minutes, and then Cas kissed her on the mouth. "I can't wait for our second date," he quipped, and then he headed off to the shower as she laughed merrily.

After they all had brunch together, Gail said, "Let's go to the Secret Garden."

Dean cocked an eyebrow, but somewhat surprisingly, he said, "OK. You guys always talk about that place. I'm curious to see it."

"Well, it's not very Vegas-y," she said to him, "but that's kind of the point. We don't necessarily have to stay that long, but Cas and I have a tradition: We have to go there every time we come here. Besides, I think you'll like it. Wait until you see the white tigers."

"They're magnificent," Cas added.

"And of course, they love Cas," Gail remarked. "But then again, who doesn't?" She kissed her husband on the cheek.

Dean rolled his eyes. "When are you guys gonna have the decency to start taking each other for granted, like every other married couple in the universe?"

"Never," Cas responded firmly. "We're in love, Dean."

Dean continued to stare at them for a moment. Then he threw some money down on the table. "Let's go," he said, sighing.

"Hey! Pick that up! Today's supposed to be on us, remember?" Gail chided him.

"Oh, I know, believe me," Dean responded. "That's only the tip. Get that wallet out, Captain Obvious," he said to Cas.

"We've decided it's Captain Adorable, now," Cas said, his lips twitching.

"Oh, the hell it is," Dean retorted. "Come on, you two. We'll get Barry and Tommy to stand in-between you." Then the two men started to kiss too, and Dean threw his hands up in frustration. "Come on!"

Sam was smiling. "Look at me, stuck here with you," he said to Dean. "Maybe, if I'm lucky, one of those tigers will maul me."

Cas paid their way into the Secret Garden, and they all walked around from cage to cage, admiring the big cats.

"I can see why you like this place," Sam said to Cas and Gail. "It's very serene. Very Zen."

"These cats are pretty amazing," Tommy remarked. "They're beautiful animals."

They came to the cage that held the white tigers, and Cas and Gail smiled. "Did you miss us?" Cas said to the tigers. The big cats' ears perked up immediately, and they came to the front of the cage, rubbing their faces against the wire mesh.

"Told'ja," Gail said to their friends.

Cas was tempted to step over the barrier and poke his fingers through the mesh to pet them, but then he thought better of it. There were more people here today than he was used to seeing, and he noticed that the enclosures were different now. He supposed that was understandable. The public needed to be protected from the animals, of course, but the animals also needed to be protected from the public. They had learned that lesson the hard way a few years ago.

"Aren't they gorgeous?" a voice said from behind the group.

When Cas and Gail turned around, Hermann gasped. "I can't believe it! I never thought that I would see the two of you again!" he exclaimed.

"We were quite busy there for a while," Cas told him. "But whenever we are in Las Vegas, we will always come here." He introduced Hermann to their friends, and Hermann looked at Barry and Tommy curiously. The two men were holding hands, and Hermann noticed the engagement ring on Barry's finger.

"Are the two of you...?" Hermann asked, and the men smiled. "Yes, we're engaged," Tommy replied. "We'll be getting married soon."

"But, how is that possible?" Hermann said, astonished.

"We're Canadian," Barry told him. "It's legal where we live."

"Not just a 'civil union', as they call it, but a real marriage?" Hermann asked them in a hushed voice.

"That's right," Barry confirmed.

Hermann's eyes started to mist over. "My partner and I came here from Europe many years ago," he said. "We've lived together this whole time. Just the two of us, for all of these years. Back in the day, as you say, we had to hide our true relationship, even though it became common knowledge. We would not have been able to do any of the things you see here if we had been overt about our relationship. As if taking care of these beautiful animals was in any way relevant to whether Burt and I shared a bedroom or not," he continued, a tone of bitterness creeping into his voice. "But still, we persevered, and we are still together, and despite it all, we have remained very happy." He frowned. "Burt had a stroke last year, and he can no longer come here. But I still do, and I have the employees take videos of me playing with our cats, to show to him at home. He can no longer speak, but I can see in his eyes when I show him the videos that he is happy."

Tommy squeezed Barry's hand. That was one of the saddest, yet sweetest, things he had ever heard. "Barry and I would like to thank you," he said to Hermann. "If it weren't for couples like you and Burt, Barry and I wouldn't be able to walk around in public now, holding hands. I won't say it's perfect, but we've come a long way."

Hermann dipped his head in acknowledgement of what Tommy had said. "I thank you for that. I hope the world will one day realize that we can use all the love we can get, no matter what form that love may take."

"I agree," Cas said softly. "All of us do."

Dean nudged Gail. "Hey. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," she said to him. "It was good to see you again, Hermann." She and Dean moved away from the group.

"I want to take you for a drink," Dean said to her.

"OK, I'll tell Cas you want us to go," she said. "We did promise you that he was all yours today."

"No, I wanna take YOU for a drink," Dean corrected her. "I want to talk to you, Gail. I have a few questions I want to ask you."

"Sorry, but if you're thinking of proposing, you're way too late," she wisecracked.

"You think you're pretty funny, don't you?" Dean said, but he was starting to smile. He couldn't help it. How did she always do that to him?

"Yep. And rich," she added. "Don't forget rich."

"You're buying, then," he told her.

"I told you, today is on us," Gail reminded him. "But you'd better take advantage. You know us; we'll be giving a lot of it away after this trip."

"Yeah, I know," he said, sighing. "Damn Angels."

Gail laughed delightedly. She grabbed Dean by the hand and brought him back to where Cas and the others stood. "Dean and I are running away together," she told her husband pertly.

Cas's lips twitched. "Oh," he said. "Well, have a good time, then."

Dean rolled his eyes. "What is it about you? You can't even get jealous right."

"That's right, I can't," Cas said agreeably, "because I know there's nothing to be jealous about."

"He's got us, there," Gail said, smiling. She gave Cas a peck on the cheek. "Dean and I are going to go have a drink and talk for a bit. Will you guys still be here?"

Cas looked at the other men. "It's OK by me," Sam said. "I really like it here. A little serenity is always a welcome thing."

"Ahhh, serenity is for losers," Dean said. "Let's drink, already." He pulled Gail away from the group and they went into the hotel bar.

Once they had their drinks, Dean proposed a toast: "To the woman who gave me my second life," he said, and then he smirked. "Or my twenty-second life, maybe. After as many deaths as I've had, you kind of stop counting after a while. Does that make you my mother, by the way?"

"Try calling me that, just once, and see what happens," Gail retorted.

They clinked glasses and drank. Gail regarded him curiously. "What's up, Dean?"

He made a face. "I wanted to talk to you about how I've been feeling."

"Dean Winchester, wanting to talk about his feelings? Did that spell bring about the end of the world, too?" she joked.

"Come on, Gail, I'm trying to be serious, here. If I wanted jokes, I'd talk to your brother. This is hard enough for me as it is," Dean said sharply.

She was instantly contrite. "I'm sorry, Dean. I won't be a smartass any more, I promise."

Dean took another drink, and then, he sighed. "Ever since I came back, I've been feeling a little weird," he told her. "Like, Jekyll and Hyde weird. Half of me wants to just go out there right now and drink my face off, gamble all night, and hire three hookers at once."

Gail opened her mouth, then closed it again. She'd promised she was going to let him have his say. Dean sighed, then went on: "And the other half of me wants to take better care of myself, do some community service, and get really serious about Nicole." He paused. "It was strange, Gail. When Sammy and I talked about him killing me in that field, he cried, and then I cried, and then we hugged for about an hour. But then, I thought about the fact that when I died, nothing happened. I didn't go anywhere, did I? Then, we found out that Crowley had actually shielded me from Death. But if he hadn't done that, where would I have gone? What would have happened to my soul?"

"That's just it; we had no idea," Gail said earnestly. "Now that you're back, I can say that to you. That's why I thought we couldn't afford to take the chance. But now, I'm starting to wonder: how weird ARE you feeling?"

"Kinda weird," Dean replied. "Do you know if anyone else besides Crowley was revived using that spell?"

Gail's forehead wrinkled. "No. But then again, I don't know much about that kind of stuff. It's not like Rowena and I are besties, or anything. You're not going to come over to our house and find her broom parked in our driveway. You heard her at Bobby's wake. She blames me for his death."

"If anything, she should be blaming me," Dean said, frowning. "I was a bonehead. But I never thought he'd keel over like that, Gail. You saw him, right? That whole time we were over there in Europe together, he was tougher than me and Sam ever dreamed of being. I feel really guilty about that."

"You know what, Dean? I understand how you feel, but I really do think he's happier in Heaven," Gail assured her friend. "Plus, if my hubby doesn't get elected, Bobby could very well end up being God again. And I think that would be a win-win."

"That's another thing that's gonna be weird," Dean remarked. "You guys are competing for the same job."

She shrugged. "I don't think that's going to be much of a problem. It's Patricia who we don't want in the Office. Either one of the guys would be great. I doubt that there would be any hard feelings, either way. We're all friends."

Dean nodded. He supposed that was true. He took another sip of his drink, and then he said, "So, what do you think about what I said?"

Gail smiled. "Truthfully? I don't think it's the spell at all. I think it's the little kid in you fighting the mature adult in you. Sort of like that commercial about the breakfast cereal. One side is the fun-loving, sugary side, and the other half is the sensible, wheaty side."

"What's marriage like?" he asked her suddenly.

Gail had taken a sip of her own drink, and she nearly spit it out. She put her glass down carefully on the table and looked him in the eye. "It's wonderful, Dean. I know you guys always give us a hard time, and I know we're probably not the most realistic example of a married couple. But, I'll tell you something: Marriage doesn't have to be a death knell to freedom, Dean. Not if you're with the right person. If you're with the right person, you're with somebody who's always got your back, no matter what. And you'll always have theirs, because you love them more than anything. Between you and me, I wasn't too worried about Cas being mad at me about the spell, because when you're in it for the long haul, there's always a way to work things out, if you really want to be together."

Dean snorted. "You're such a liar. He was dead-set against it. We all know that. It's only because he's such a sucker for you that he gave in."

She smirked. "OK, well, there's that, too. But, that's love, Dean."

"'I call it love'," he said absently, and Gail's eyes widened. "So, you DO remember!" she exclaimed.

He smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I do, Gail. I used to think they were dreams. I was married with kids then, but that was the wrong era for me, just like it was for you guys. But now that I'm more mature, like you said, I'm thinking that I might be ready to give it another shot."

Her heart leapt with excitement, but she maintained a calm tone. "All right: number one, I never said you were mature," she said, smiling. "And number two, we're going to have to figure out what to tell Nicole about this whole thing. As far as I know, she's going to think you're an Angel when she sees you next. When she finds out you're human again, are we going to tell her how that came to be?"

Dean shrugged. "I guess we'll have to tell her the whole story. If you and Cas are OK with it, that is. Sammy and I have learned the hard way that keeping secrets from each other is really, really bad."

Gail nodded. She knew that now, too. She'd been nervous when Cas had found out what she and Sam had been doing behind his back, but the primary emotion she'd felt had been one of relief that it was finally out in the open. "I'll tell you what, Dean," she said, finishing her drink. "We'll have our night out on the town tonight, and then when we get home, we'll arrange to go and see Nicole, together. You and me and Cas. We'll explain everything to her, and then we'll leave you guys to your own devices. How does that sound?"

Dean drained his drink, too. "Sounds good to me. Let's go, Mrs. Adorable." He stood up from his chair as Gail laughed. She stood too, and then she dug into her pocket. "Oh, crap," she said. "I don't have any money. I gave the remainder of what I had back to Cas, to put back in his wallet."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! I've never seen anybody who's as rich as you are, broke as often as you are!"

"Hey, I brought you back to life," she said pertly.

"How long are you gonna milk that for?" he complained, but he was reaching for his wallet.

"The rest of your life, my friend," she said gleefully. "The rest of your long, long life." Gail moved forward and kissed him on the cheek. Dean grinned and gave her a one-armed hug. Then she said, "Come on, you big weenie. Let's go out on the town."


	2. Someone I Used To Love

Chapter 2 - Someone I Used To Love

The six of them had been puddle-jumping, going from casino to casino, bar to bar. It was full dark on the Strip now, and Barry was looking around himself at all angles, amazed. He had never been here before, and he had heard that it was quite the spectacle. But the accounts he'd heard didn't do it justice.

"Wow," he marveled. "I can't even imagine what the Hydro bill would be every night for all of this."

"The what?" Dean asked him, puzzled.

Tommy laughed. "The Hydro. That's Canadian for the electric bill."

"Oh," Dean said. He guessed he should probably learn more about Canada, if he and Nicole were going to become more serious. "What do you say if you bump into somebody?" he said, smirking. "Or, if somebody bumps into you? I've heard you apologize."

"Of course you do," Tommy told him. "Either way." Then, an instant later, it actually happened. Tommy was looking at Dean, and a man who was walking the other way bumped into Tommy. "Oh, sorry," Tommy said, and Sam laughed. "Canadians," he said, shaking his head.

"Oh my God! Tommy?!" Wyatt exclaimed. Then he looked at the others, and his eyes grew wider. "Oh, my God! It's you guys!"

"Hi, Wyatt," Tommy greeted his ex-boyfriend.

"What a coincidence," Wyatt marveled. "I can't believe it."

Tommy stared at him, shocked. The last time they'd seen Wyatt, he had been thin, as usual; but now he looked emaciated, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"Hey, Cas," Wyatt said flirtatiously. "How's that marriage thing working out for you?"

Cas gave Gail's hand a squeeze as she said tartly, "Very well, Wyatt. It's working out very well for him."

Wyatt smiled. "Hey, you can't blame a guy for trying." Then he looked at Dean and Sam. "You two still claiming you're brothers?" he asked them, and Gail burst out laughing.

"I'm fine too, Wyatt. Thanks for asking," Barry said sarcastically, and Tommy's ex looked at him coolly. Yes, he'd seen that Tommy and Barry had been walking hand in hand, and he'd also noticed the diamond ring on Barry's finger. Please. This was Wyatt they were talking to. He could be blind, and he would still be able to smell a diamond. The bottom line was, Barry had won, and Wyatt had lost, in every category imaginable. He'd also noticed the shocked look on Tommy's face when he'd first seen his ex. Even now, Tommy was staring at him with that inquisitive reporter look. It wouldn't be long until he put two and two together, if he hadn't already.

"What are you all doing here?" Wyatt asked the group.

"Just here for a couple of days on vacation," Sam said casually.

"But we're leaving tomorrow," Barry added quickly.

"Do you want to go to a really good show tonight?" Wyatt asked them. "I can get you in for free."

Dean perked up. "What's that, now?"

"It looks like you've discovered Dean's Achilles' Heel," Tommy said dryly. "'Free' is his favourite 'F' word."

"Just a minute," Barry said. He grabbed Dean's arm and pulled him aside to where Sam was standing. "You know what kind of show he's talking about, right?" he asked the brothers.

"Sure," Dean said, and Sam nodded, too. Then Dean smiled slowly. "But I'll bet you a million bucks Cas won't."

The brothers were smirking as they rejoined the group. "Lead on, Wyatt," Sam said.

"What kind of show is it?" Cas asked Wyatt, as they followed Tommy's ex down the Strip.

"There'll be a lot of good-looking women, singing and dancing, sort of like a variety show," Dean answered quickly. He winked at Wyatt, who got the message. Man, if only, Wyatt thought. A couple of years ago, when he'd been healthy, he would've wrapped himself around Dean after a wink like that and never let go, straight or not. Woof. "I hope Gail won't get jealous," he said, smiling.

Barry and Tommy exchanged amused glances, and Gail looked at Wyatt suspiciously. "Women? Singing and dancing?" she asked him. "You're not talking about a strip club, are you?"

Dean had to avert his face to keep from laughing out loud. Gail was no fool, but this time, she had taken a wrong fork in the road. Good. It would be a lot more fun this way. "No, it's not a strip club, we promise," Dean said to her. "I've learned my lesson, Gail. I'll never take Cas to a place like that again, even if you aren't with us."

"Good, because you know I would never go to one of those kinds of places," Cas said primly. "Don't you worry about any of those women, my love. I'm sure they won't flirt with me when they see that I'm there with my wife."

Tommy was shaking now with the effort to keep from laughing. Maybe what they were doing was a little bit mean, but it was also pretty funny. Obviously, the Angels were too naive to realize that they were going to a drag show. Well, Cas was, anyway. Gail still had that suspicious look on her face, as if she knew that something was up that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Wyatt was trying to keep himself from laughing, too. How could anyone as gorgeous as Cas be so naive? Man, his former co-workers were gonna be drooling all over Cas, wife or no wife. And over Sam and Dean, too. What a blessing it had been to run into their group tonight. Wyatt would be greeted like a VIP by his old friends, not only because he hadn't been there in so long, but because he was bringing all this man candy with him.

They got to the cabaret and Wyatt was greeted warmly by the hostess. She led them to the best table in the house, right by the stage. Wyatt asked for several bottles of champagne to be brought to the table, and he beamed when the hostess told him they would be free of charge.

Wyatt poured champagne all around and he lifted his glass. "Here's to having a good time," he said to them all. The whole group lifted their glasses to meet his toast.

A couple of minutes later, the lights started to dim and then the show started. A tall woman with flaming red hair came out on stage to warm up the audience, and she looked down at Wyatt's table and gave him a thumbs-up. The hostess had come backstage and told all of the performers who remembered Wyatt that he was here, with a number of tall, good-looking men. But it looked like he might be fading fast, so they all made a pact to show him and his friends a really good time.

A couple of singers followed. One woman covered Cher songs, and the other one was dressed like Madonna in the 1980s. They were pretty good singers, and the one who played Madonna was a good dancer, as well. Gail started to relax. Apparently, she'd been suspicious for nothing.

Then another woman came onstage, imitating Beyonce. She was scantily clad, and she started to do some sexy dance moves. After the first song, she said, "I see a very good friend of mine in the audience tonight." She stepped down off of the stage and came over to where Wyatt sat. "How are you doing, Sugar?" she said to him.

"I'm good, Queen B," Wyatt answered.

"And look at all these handsome men you brought with you tonight!" the performer squealed. She walked around the table, looking at them all admiringly. She fluffed Sam's hair, then felt Dean's bicep. "Me-ow," she remarked. Then she saw Cas, and she stopped short. "And who might you be, Honey?" she asked him, tilting the microphone towards him. "Cas," he responded. The performer looked at the audience. "Cas," she repeated, imitating his deeper voice. There was a ripple of laughter from the crowd. Then she moved closer to him and sat on his knee. "Well, Cas, what do you think of the show so far?" she purred into the microphone.

"I think it's very entertaining," he said in a mild voice. "But I wish you wouldn't sit on me like this. I'm a married man."

"Really?" Beyonce's imitator said. "Imagine that. A married man. It's not like we've had any of THOSE in here before."

The audience laughed, and "Beyonce" moved even further forward in Cas's lap. Now, her breasts were near his face, and he was looking away pointedly. "Well, what your wife doesn't know about won't hurt her, right, Big Boy?" she cooed.

"She's right here," Cas said in a strangled voice, gesturing to Gail. "I must insist that you rise immediately."

Gail was glaring at the female impersonator, but she was also looking around the table at her friends now. They were all laughing. Dean thought he might just pee himself in a minute. God, he wished Frank was here. Look at the look on Cas's face. The poor guy still had no idea.

Gail knew now, of course. As soon as she'd seen the performer up close, she'd known that "Beyonce" was a man, dressed up like a woman. She poked her husband, then gestured to her own throat. If Cas looked closer, he would be able to see that "Beyonce" had an Adam's apple. Which was pretty funny, considering whose lap "she" was on.

Dean was wiping his eyes with his hands now. "What's going on?" Cas said sharply. "Why are you laughing?" He glared up at the performer's face. "Why don't you sit on HIS lap?" Cas said angrily, jerking his head at Dean. "He's single."

"Ooh, Honey, if I didn't have my set to do, I'd be sitting on all of your laps, believe me," the performer said flirtatiously. Then "she" looked down at Gail. "Oh, and by the way, you're not fooling anybody," the impersonator said cattily. "If you want to look more like a woman, try a bit more makeup. And, BTW, your falsies are crooked." Then "Beyonce" got off Cas's lap and sashayed back up to the stage.

The men lost it. They were killing themselves laughing now, leaning on each other for support. Gail was glaring daggers at them, and Cas was still looking extremely confused. Gail grabbed Cas's hand, tugging him to his feet. "Come with me for a second," she said to him. Then she leaned down and said something in Dean's ear, and then she pulled Cas to the front door of the club and outside onto the sidewalk.

"Please don't shout at me, Gail," Cas said miserably as soon as they got outside. "I didn't know she was going to flirt with me like that, and I certainly didn't invite her to do it."

"Cas, that was a guy," she said bluntly. "This is a drag club."

"A what?" he said, puzzled. This was uncharted territory for him.

"A drag club," she repeated. "They're female impersonators, Cas."

"Female - " he started to say, and then, the light dawned. "Do you mean that those were all men?"

Gail nodded. "Yep. I didn't really know that myself, until I saw 'Beyonce's' Adam's apple. I'm surprised you didn't notice it, at such close proximity," she added dryly.

"I was trying not to look," Cas pointed out. He frowned. "I suppose our friends think I'm pretty foolish."

Gail touched his face. "No, sweetie. You're just a little innocent, sometimes. I think it's cute." Her lips twitched. "Besides, it's me who should be really upset. 'Beyonce' thinks I'm a guy, in drag." She looked down at her chest. "And, even worse, she thinks I'm crooked!"

She looked back up at Cas, and the two of them laughed together. He put his arms around her waist. "Well, I've never had any complaints," Cas said lightly, and he kissed her on the mouth.

Their friends came out of the club. Dean was still laughing, but he'd calmed down somewhat. "I'm sorry, but that was too funny," he said, clapping Cas on the shoulder.

Barry was pretending to inspect Gail. "Don't listen to him, Gail, I don't think you're crooked at all," he said, smirking. "He's just jealous that his come out of a store."

"You'd better not look; Cas'll get mad," Tommy said, nudging his fiance.

"It's OK for me to look; I'm gay," Barry assured Cas with a smile.

"You probably could do with a bit more makeup, though," Sam told her, grinning.

Gail fixed them with an all-encompassing glare. Wyatt was standing there too, so she couldn't say exactly what she wanted to say. She settled for: "You guys had better hope I don't win that upcoming little contest that you all know about. 'Cause I'm starting a list, and I'll be taking down names."

Cas was just opening his mouth to add a witticism when Wyatt collapsed onto the sidewalk.

Gail and the men were sitting in the waiting room when the doctor came out. "Are you Wyatt's friends?" he asked them.

Barry made a face. That might be a bit of a strong word. But he nodded to Tommy, who stood from his chair and faced the doctor. "Yes, we are," Tommy said. "I'm his ex-boyfriend. How is he?"

"He doesn't have long," the physician said softly. "I'm sorry to be so blunt, but we don't have any time to lose. Do you know who his next of kin is?"

Tommy frowned. "He doesn't have any, I'm afraid." That wasn't exactly true, but he was protecting Wyatt now. His ex's family were fundamentalist Christians, who had disowned Wyatt a long time ago. Even if they hadn't, though, Tommy knew that Wyatt wouldn't want any of them here. "I'm the closest thing he's got," Tommy added, looking apologetically at Barry.

"Well, you can go in, then," the doctor told him. "I'm sorry, but I have to rush off. We're very busy tonight."

Tommy turned to Barry with a concerned look on his face, but Barry gave him a nod. "Go and see him," Tommy's fiance said quietly. "Nobody should have to die alone, not if there are people around them who can be kind to them in their last moments."

"I love you," Tommy said to him. "For that, and for many other reasons." Then he went down the hall to Wyatt's room.

The others sat silently for a bit, and then Barry asked Gail, "What did you say to Dean?"

"What?" she asked him, puzzled.

"Back there in the club, right before you took Cas outside. You leaned down and said something to Dean that none of us heard. What was it?"

Gail's lips twitched. "I said the next time he dies, I was going to rip the last two pages out of the spell book, roll them up, and shove them up his-"

"You did not!" Barry exclaimed, interrupting her.

"She sure did," Dean said, grinning. Then he remembered why they were here, and he made himself stop.

Meanwhile, Tommy had let himself into Wyatt's room. He drew up a chair beside the bed and took Wyatt's hand. "You should have told me," he chided Wyatt gently.

"Why? You have nothing to worry about," Wyatt replied. "We haven't been together for years."

Tommy frowned a little. "I didn't mean for my sake, I meant for yours. How long have you been sick?"

"Just over a year now," his ex responded. "Remember when I called you on New Years', and you hung up on me?" Tommy opened his mouth to explain, but Wyatt held up his free hand weakly. "No, you don't have to say anything, Tom-Tom. I know what you guys were dealing with. Or I have a pretty good idea, anyway. I've spent way too much time thinking only of myself, and now I'm paying for it. When you and I were together, all I cared about was the next drink, the next high, and the next guy. When you finally came to your senses and left me, I took all those pills because deep down, I knew I had just let my only real chance for happiness walk out that door."

"I thought you were just being dramatic," Tommy said, stunned.

"I know you did, and why wouldn't you?" Wyatt said, smiling grimly. "That was my M.O., wasn't it? You would go out on the road and I would hop from bed to bed, justifying what I was doing by saying that you were leaving me all alone. Blaming you for my character flaws. Me, me, me. Then you left, and suddenly, I was 'free'. Free to do what? Live alone? Sleep alone? Die alone?"

Tommy winced. "Is there anything I can do for you, Wyatt? Anyone I can call?"

Wyatt sighed. "You know how my family feels about me. I couldn't face any of them right now. But, yeah. Actually, there are a couple of things you can do. Can you call Adrian for me?"

Tommy looked at him blankly, and then he realized: Adrian was the General who had gotten Cas and Gail and the Winchesters into Area 51.

"I know he's not exactly your favourite person, but I need to tell him I'm sorry," Wyatt went on. "He and I haven't spoken since he brought your friends into the base - "

" - And betrayed them," Tommy interrupted sharply.

Wyatt sighed again. "Yes. But that whole thing wasn't my fault, Tom-Tom. Anyway, I didn't tell Adrian when I was diagnosed, and I feel bad about that now. I wonder if you could call him for me and ask him to come."

Tommy stared at his ex, astonished. This whole time, Wyatt had known that he had AIDS, and he'd never told the man he'd been sleeping with? Unbelievable.

"Don't look at me like that," Wyatt said, as if reading his mind. "I called and called, but Adrian never called me back. Maybe he blamed me for what happened at the base, I don't know. But none of that had anything to do with me. I don't even know what happened there! He called me once, right afterwards, and said that I had ruined his career by bringing those Angels to meet him. And that was it. He stopped taking my calls after that, and he stopped coming around the club. And then, I had to quit performing, once I got too sick. But I know I don't have too long now, Tommy. Which brings me to the second thing: can you ask Cas to come in?" Tommy gave his ex a look, and Wyatt rolled his eyes. "He's an Angel, isn't he? I want him to hear my confession." Then Wyatt gave Tommy a sly grin. "Hey, there's no law that says I can't enjoy the sights while I'm unburdening myself, is there?"

Tommy shook his head slowly. Wyatt. He was one of a kind.

A couple of minutes later, Tommy came out to the waiting room, telling Cas that Wyatt wanted to see him. Then Tommy excused himself. He needed to go and call Adrian for Wyatt, and he thought he should go somewhere private to do it.

Cas stood from the small couch he and Gail had been sitting on. "Show me to his room," he said to Tommy, and the two of them walked down the hall.

"After Cas is done, let's get out of here before that General gets here," Dean said grimly. "I owe that guy a punch in the face."

Gail nodded. "Lucky Gabriel isn't here. I'm pretty sure he would feel the same way. But we're done with those guys. We got what we needed to get there. It's all about poor Wyatt right now. Sorry, Barry," she said to their friend, but he shook his head. "No, don't worry about it," Barry said. "I've just been sitting here thinking about how lucky I am. That could have been me in there, a number of years ago. I wasn't always careful, and I wasn't always smart. But Tommy and I both got tested when we decided we were serious about each other, and we were both clean. So, there but for the grace of God, as they say. I'd be a pretty petty person if I had a problem with Tommy giving Wyatt a little comfort in his last hours."

Tommy had stepped outside the building for a breath of fresh air, and for some privacy. "Wyatt wants to see you," he was telling Adrian. Tommy was calling from his own cell phone, reasoning that if the General saw Wyatt's ID come up, he wouldn't answer.

"Well, I'm not interested in seeing him," Adrian replied shortly. "Tell him to lose my number."

"He's in the hospital, and he's dying," Tommy said harshly. "That change your mind?"

There was silence, and then Adrian sighed. "All right, I'll come. But I'm at the base, so it'll take me a while to get there. What's wrong with him?"

Tommy pursed his lips in frustration. "What do you think, Einstein?"

"It could be a lot of things," Adrian remarked cautiously.

"Well, it's not," Tommy retorted angrily. He wasn't really sure why he was so angry with the General. Adrian was a victim here, too, according to Wyatt himself. Maybe it was because the General had betrayed his friends in Area 51, but there was more to it than that. Adrian was the receptacle for Tommy's outrage at the unfairness of it all. He no longer loved Wyatt, but it hurt Tommy's heart nonetheless to see him laying there dying, when the guy he remembered had been so full of life. Damn disease. As if the world didn't make life hard enough for gay people.

"Are you certain?" the General asked him now, alarm in his voice.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Tommy yelled into the phone. "It's AIDS, you closeted bastard! Now, get your five-star ass down here and show him some compassion!" He pressed End Call, then stood there for a moment, breathing heavily.

"I've done a lot of sketchy things in my life, Cas," Wyatt was saying to the Angel. "Do you think that someone like me would be able to make it into Heaven?"

Cas looked at him with compassion. What could he possibly say to that? How should he know? But then it occurred to him: it might soon be his job to know. If he aspired to the High Office, this was just the sort of decision he would have to make. There was only one problem: the answer had to be no.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Wyatt asked him.

"Like what?" Cas said, stalling.

"I don't know, exactly," Wyatt said. "Like you know something."

Tommy entered the room just in time to hear their exchange. "Actually, Cas might BE God, soon," he said heartily. He thought he would keep Wyatt's spirits up if he told him that, but Cas frowned. He wished Tommy hadn't said that.

"What?!" Wyatt exclaimed. Tommy told him about the upcoming election, as Cas's heart sank. But it was too late to do anything about it now.

Wyatt looked at Cas, open-mouthed. "I hit on God?" he said in a soft voice. Then, more loudly, "I hit on God?!"

As Cas opened his mouth to correct Wyatt, the patient started to laugh. "That's hilarious!" Wyatt said in a high-pitched voice. Tears started to stream down his cheeks. "That's perfect! I hit on God! Now I know why everybody says your name in bed! Because they see your face!" He reached out and touched Cas's face with his fingertips. Then his laughter turned into a cough, and he clutched at his stomach.

"Do you want me to call the nurse?" Tommy said, alarmed.

"No, Tom-Tom," Wyatt said wearily. "I'm ready to go, now. Thanks for the laughs. I hope I'll see you all in Heaven." Then he closed his eyes, and then he died.

Cas and Tommy came back out into the waiting room and their friends could tell that Wyatt was gone, just from the looks on their faces.

Cas was feeling several different emotions at that moment. It was always a shame when a life was lost, especially if the person had suffered beforehand. But it was a lot more complicated than that. Wyatt's confession had been detailed, and a little bit shocking. He told Cas that he had been extremely promiscuous throughout most of his adult life, including the time that he and Tommy had been in a supposedly committed relationship. That was a question of morality, though, wasn't it? If Tommy had forgiven Wyatt for that, should God not do the same? And Wyatt had helped them gain access to Area 51, where they had not only obtained one of the Tablets that was supposed to have led to Lucifer's demise, but they had been able to liberate the Archangel Gabriel from there, also. That should tip the scales in Wyatt's favour, shouldn't it? However, the one part of Wyatt's confession, and the part that Castiel couldn't quite get past, was that Wyatt had known over a year ago that he'd had AIDS. Yet, he had told no one. General Greene had only been one of Wyatt's lovers right before he had been diagnosed, and he had had unprotected sex with several men during that time. And therein lay the issue. The instant Wyatt found out that he had AIDS, he should have informed those men immediately. He claimed to have attempted a phone call or two to Adrian, at least, but that had been it. Wyatt's diagnosis had been his death sentence, but by keeping the information to himself, he had to all intents and purposes passed sentence on General Greene as well, and also on the man's wife, if the husband and wife were having relations, as well as who knew how many other men who had been pickups and one-night stands.

Thou shalt not kill. But there were many different ways to kill, and different reasons for doing so. Castiel had killed thousands upon thousands of individuals during his existence. Was it really supposed to be up to him to decide which murders were OK, and which were not? He felt a frisson of self-doubt. Perhaps he was not cut out to do the job, after all.

Barry took Tommy's hand. "I'm sorry," he said to his fiance.

"Thanks," Tommy replied. He looked at the others sadly. "Let's go home."

Adrian arrived at the hospital about fourty minutes later. The nurse paged Wyatt's doctor, who informed the General that the patient had passed away. He stood there, shocked. Oh, God. My God.

"Are you all right, Sir?" the doctor inquired.

"No. I don't think I am," he replied dazedly.

The doctor regarded him closely. He was pretty sure he knew what was going on here. "Would you like to get tested, Sir? We can do it here and hold the results for you. Under the circumstances, I can fast-track it for you. It'll take about 3 days. And it's completely confidential."

General Greene thought about it for a moment. "Do it," he said.

Cas and Gail transported Sam and Dean back to the bunker, promising to be back in the morning to help Dean break the happy news to Nicole.

"And there'd better be three million dollars in that safe when we get here," Gail said to Dean, pointing her finger at him.

Dean smirked. His Angel friends had already told him and Sam that they were going to split the money equally between the Winchesters, Frank's family, the women's shelter, and Barry and Tommy's wedding. "I'll tell you what, 'Mrs. Adorable'," he said to her now. "Take my share and give it to the AIDS Foundation."

"Dean!" Gail exclaimed. "That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard!" She hugged him, and he gave her a squeeze. "Hey, I figure if I die again, I'd better accumulate a few brownie points," Dean said. His and Cas's eyes met, and the friends smiled at each other.

Then Cas and Gail winked Barry and Tommy directly to the apartment they were currently occupying in Vancouver. There were hugs all around, and the Angels told the men to go ahead and book their venues for the wedding. "Let us know what kind of deposits you need, and either Cas or I will show up with the money," Gail told them. "Or, maybe the two of us will be able to come here together. But things are probably going to get really busy for us coming up, so we'll have to see."

The men had thanked them profusely, and then the Angels went home.

The next morning, Cas and Gail were back at the bunker.

"How do you want to handle this?" Dean asked them. "I don't want Nicole having a damn heart attack, too."

"We'll Skype her, and tell her that we have good news," Cas told him. "She's already half-expecting to see you again, as an Angel. So we'll bring you over there, and then we can explain."

"OK, you guys," Dean said uneasily. He was wondering how this was going to go over. He hoped Nicole would be OK with it, but it was a lot for somebody who didn't spend a lot of time in their world to deal with.

"Good to go," Gail announced a few minutes later. She and Cas had gone into Dean's room for privacy, and now they had come back out into the library area, where he'd been waiting nervously.

"Really? Already?" Dean asked them.

Gail smirked. "Well, if you'd like, Cas and I can go back to your bedroom for a bit longer. I noticed that your sheets are really soft."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Don't even joke about that. I'd have nightmares for the rest of my life about what kind of weirdo Angel crap you guys might pull in there. Forget about changing the sheets; I'd just have to burn the damn bed."

Gail shrugged. "Hey, you can just buy another one, with the share of jackpot money we'll be giving you."

Dean looked at Cas. "Tell your wife to behave herself," he said with a half-smirk. "She's gonna be the First Lady of Heaven soon. What kind of example is she setting, talking like that?"

Cas's lips twitched. "You're quite right, Dean. If it had been me, I would have told you to buy a whole new room."

Dean did one of his famous double-takes as Cas and Gail laughed. "Ready to go?" Gail asked Dean. She and Cas extended their hands to their friend and winked him out of the bunker.

"So, let me get this straight," Nicole said to the trio, dazed. "The Tablet said that Sam had to kill Dean with Lucifer's knife. OK, I knew about that part."

"That is correct," Cas said formally. "But, it turned out that the Tablets were written by Lucifer himself."

"Even before we knew that, though, I'd had the idea," Gail added. "I just didn't think it was fair for Dean to have to be sacrificed like that."

"But, because of the source of the spell, I forbade it," Castiel continued stiffly. But then he relaxed, smiling. "You can see how well that worked out for me."

Nicole was shaking her head vigorously, as if trying to clear it. "But, there was a funeral. You burned Dean's body."

"They burned A body," Dean chipped in. "Sammy had a contact at the police station in one of our local towns who kind of owed us a favour. So, this guy let Sam stick me in the morgue for a week, while he and Gail worked on the spell. Then Cas got on board, and then, they got it done."

"They didn't really leave me a choice," Cas remarked. "But now I'm glad, of course."

Nicole was astounded. She looked at Dean, then at the Angels, then back at Dean. "But...you're OK? You're you?" she said to him. "No adverse effects, or anything?"

"Nope," he said, smiling. "Just an overwhelming urge to see you."

Nicole started to smile back, but then she said, "I have one more question, you guys. How the hell could you do this to me? How could you just let me mourn like that?"

Gail frowned. "I'm sorry, Nicole. You can blame me for that. Originally, it was just me and Sam who knew about it. I didn't even tell my own husband, because I was afraid he was going to take that book and burn it, before I got the chance to use it."

"Regrettably, I might have done just that," Castiel said softly. "When the idea was first broached, I was adamant that it was dark magic, and it was wrong."

"What changed your mind?" Nicole asked him curiously.

Cas took Gail's hand and brought it to his lips. "My darling wife," he said. He kissed her hand gently. "I started to think about what Gail was saying. Was it fair that Dean was sacrificed? No, but Biblical sacrifice is frequently not fair. But she made a couple of other very salient points that had to be considered. Firstly, since Lucifer confessed to us that he was the one who wrote those Tablets, could we really be sure that the circumstances of the sacrifice were indeed God's Will? And Gail also pointed out that our Father had given her the ability to perform any magical spell, despite the fact that she has no knowledge of the subject, nor any training in it. A spell as complex as the revival spell would usually require centuries of practice. So then, I got to thinking that perhaps Gail was right; perhaps our Father gave her that ability as a failsafe, a backup in case Lucifer tampered with the Word. Those things were enough to convince me that my position had to be reconsidered."

"Well, that, and the fact that we were doing it anyway, when he busted us," Gail said with a sheepish grin.

"All right, so let me recap, here," Nicole said, sitting back in her chair. "Dean's back from the dead, he's a human, and everything is business as usual. Right?"

"Right," Dean said happily.

"And how long ago was this that you brought him back?" Nicole asked Gail.

Gail's forehead wrinkled. "Let's see: You came back, we got Bobby, he died and went back to Heaven - "

"What?!" Nicole exclaimed.

Gail closed her mouth with a snap. Crap. It was the truth, but maybe she shouldn't have said that. This was a whole lot of stuff they were laying on poor Nicole at once.

"I know. I felt like hell about it too, but Cas and Gail said he's happy," Dean said. "He went straight back to Heaven after."

"So, we had his wake at the Hunters' bar, then you guys took the next day to recover, and then we went to Las Vegas," Gail continued, ticking off the days on her fingers. "So, that's...4 days."

"Four days," Nicole repeated. "You waited four days before you got around to telling me that you're alive!?" she said to Dean, raising her voice.

"Well...yeah..." Dean said, his smile faltering. "We had some other stuff to deal with, and I didn't know how we were going to tell you..."

"So you had to go to Vegas with your buddies to figure it out," Nicole said angrily.

"Come on, that's not fair," Dean replied uncomfortably. "We didn't know how you were going to take it."

"OK, so you let me mourn you for four more days because you didn't have the courtesy to treat me like a friend," Nicole said in a clipped tone. "Not even a girlfriend, but just like someone who cares about you."

"I...I just..." Dean was floundering now, searching for words that wouldn't come. Cas and Gail were looking guiltily at each other. But the bottom line was that Dean and Nicole's relationship was up to Dean and Nicole. It hadn't been up to them to decide how Dean should handle it, or how he should have conducted himself once he'd been brought back to life.

"Get out," Nicole said to him.

"Nicole..." he started to say.

"No, Dean. I'd like you to leave. If you don't care enough about me to give me the wonderful news that you're alive, and then tell me that you want to go to Vegas with your friends to celebrate that fact - " Her voice cracked, and her eyes filled with angry tears. "What did you think? Did you think I was going to tell you that you couldn't go, or something? What do you take me for, Dean?"

"I'm sorry, Nicole," Cas said. "You can blame me for that. I should have - "

"You should have what, Cas? It's not you I'm having a relationship with. If you can call it that," Nicole said pointedly.

"I call it that," Dean said quickly, but Nicole looked at him coolly. "Are you still here? I thought I asked you to leave. Maybe you can come back sometime, when you've learned how to respect me enough to treat me like a person."

Dean was stricken. He had no idea what to day or do now. Gail rose from her seat. "Come on, let's go," she said to him, holding out her hand.

"Is it all right if I stay here and visit for a few minutes?" Cas asked Nicole in his most ingratiating voice. "We can talk about the movie."

Gail turned her head so Nicole wouldn't see that her lips were twitching. She knew that tone. Cas was going to do some serious groveling on Dean's behalf. But Gail also knew that there would be no sense in Dean's staying there right now. When Gail was mad at Cas, sometimes his mere presence in the same room was enough to keep her blood boiling.

"YOU can stay," Nicole said to Cas, and Gail grabbed Dean's hand. "We'll see you back home," she said to her husband, and she winked Dean away.

Cas sighed. "I'm sorry, Nicole," he said again.

She let out a frustrated breath. "It's not you, Cas, it's him," she said to the Angel. "I'm just hurting right now. He just waltzes in here after 4 days of being back from the dead, says 'Ta-da!', and everything's supposed to be peachy? Well, it's not! Look, I don't care if he wants to go to Las Vegas, Cas. I don't own the guy. And I totally understand that you guys wanted to have a private wake for Bobby. I just wish that Dean would have given me the opportunity to BE understanding about those things. I mean, if we can't be honest with each other, then why am I even bothering?"

Cas looked down at the floor. He felt badly for Dean, but he also understood what Nicole was talking about. He looked up at her. "When Gail first became an Angel, I used to keep things from her all the time. I justified that by saying that I was protecting her. But I wasn't being fair to her. I have learned how to treat her as an equal partner, and she is much happier, as a result."

Nicole's lips twitched. "And how about you? Are YOU happier, Cas?"

He smiled. "Let's just put it this way: when Gail is happy, I'm happy." He and Nicole shared a laugh, and then Cas's expression grew serious. "I may be the last man you should ask about relationships, Nicole. You might not be aware, but I'm very inexperienced in that area. Gail is the only woman I've ever been in any kind of a relationship with."

"Really?" she said, trying to keep a straight face. She'd known that, but even if she hadn't, it was pretty obvious that Cas was hardly a ladies' man. They all used to joke about that back in the day, when he worked on the TV show.

"Yes, but I know Dean," Cas continued earnestly, oblivious to her amusement. "And I know that he has strong feelings for you. I'm hoping that you are willing to give him some time. He's not used to this type of situation. Please consider that."

Nicole regarded him. "You know what? You're a really good friend, Cas. Gail's a lucky woman."

He shook his head. "I'm the lucky one, Nicole. But, I waited thousands upon thousands of years to get this lucky. Do you think you could give Dean just a couple of days to realize how lucky HE is?"

Nicole shook her head slowly. Cas. "I'll think about it," she said, raising an eyebrow to him.

"If it'll make you feel better, I'm sure that Gail is shouting at Dean right now," Cas told her. "And, take it from me, he will not be enjoying the experience." Nicole laughed again, and Cas smiled gently. "Now, let's talk about the movie," he said to her.

Gail was trying to talk to Dean, but he was making it very difficult.

"All I'm saying is that I understand both sides," she said, following him down the hallway and into the kitchen. "But you've got to admit, she's got a point. I saw her at your memorial service, Dean. She was heartbroken. Maybe we should have just bitten the bullet and told her right away."

"I don't want to talk about this with you right now," Dean said angrily. "Buzz off."

"Dean, I'm trying to help you," she said, frustrated.

"No, you're not. You're trying to make me and Nicole into Cas and you, and it's not gonna happen," he retorted.

"Why would you even say that?" Gail said, making a face.

"Admit it, Gail, you've been trying to marry us off since the beginning," Dean shot back.

"OK, number one, that's b.s.," she said, raising her voice, "and, number two, I couldn't possibly be trying to turn you into Cas, because Cas isn't a giant ass!"

"I'm going to my room, and if you try to follow me, I'm gonna stop by the weapons room and pick up an Angel blade," Dean said, pointing his finger at her.

"Oh, yeah? And what are you gonna do with it, clean your fingernails?" Gail yelled. "You couldn't kill me, even if you wanted to! I brought you back to life! Now get out of here, before you make me regret that decision!"

"Hey! What's all the yelling about?" Sam asked, rushing into the kitchen. Dean brushed past him, stalking down the hall. Sam looked at Gail, and she shrugged.

"It didn't go well, I take it?" Sam asked her dryly.

"You could say that," she said sardonically. "Of course, it would help if your brother wasn't behaving like a GIANT ASS!" she added, yelling down the hallway.

"Hey, welcome to the club," he said affably. "I've been a card-carrying member for decades now."

Gail smiled. "Cute," she remarked. "Hey, come with me to the library for a minute."

She walked down the hallway, pausing for a moment to glare at the closed door of Dean's room. Then she continued walking, with Sam trailing behind her. She went to the safe and used the combination to open it as Sam sat down at the table. Then she took out the case with the jackpot money in it and brought it over to the library table.

"I wanted to divvy this up," Gail told Sam. She started arranging the money in piles. "One stack for you and Mister Poopyhead, one for Barry and Tommy's wedding, a bigger one for Frank's two kids, some for the shelter, and a small stack for us. We don't need much." She finished the task, then handed Sam his and Dean's cut. "I'm going to put some of this other stuff in envelopes at home, and then I'm gonna go to Frank's and give him theirs, so they can get it in the bank. Tell your brother that Cas and I are going to the shelter after I visit Frank to give him their cut, and he can call Cas on his cell phone when he's come to his senses."

Sam grinned. "That might be a while."

She shrugged. "Hey, we're eternal beings. I can outwait him." Then she paused. "Sam, you don't think I'm trying to turn him and Nicole into Cas and me, do you?"

"Is that what he said?" Sam asked her. "I missed the beginning of the fight-I mean, discussion," he amended hastily, making Gail grin. Then Sam sighed. "This is really hard for him, Gail. He's used to hookups and one-night stands. Nicole is the first woman he's had real feelings for in ages. The problem is, because Dean has never spent any appreciable time in a relationship with a strong, independent woman, part of him is still convinced that she's going to be possessive or demanding. He watches too many guy movies, and he reads too many men's magazines."

"He actually READS those?" Gail quipped. She and Sam shared a laugh. "OK, I'm going home, and then I'm going to Frank's. I'll send Cas a message on Angel Radio so he knows where I am. Maybe we'd better leave Pouty Baby alone for a while." She gestured to the hallway. She gathered up the remainder of the money, giving Sam a kiss on the forehead. Then she winked out as he grinned, pocketing the money she'd given him.

"So, what's being pregnant like?" Gail was asking Jody a short while later.

Jody thought about it for a moment. "It's like...being hungry every minute of every day, yet the very thought of food makes me nauseous. Plus, I'm tired all the time, and my feet are so swollen they look like big loaves of bread." She paused. "So, it's great!"

Gail looked at her incredulously. What was it about having kids that made people certifiably insane? That didn't sound great at all. Yet, Jody and Frank were sitting close together on the couch, and Frank had his hand on his wife's leg. Dean didn't have to worry about him and Nicole being Cas and Gail, because it seemed like Frank and Jody were now vying for the crown. Oh, well. As long as they were happy.

Her brother and sister-in-law had been very appreciative when Gail had given them the money, and she had smiled happily. Then she'd told them the story about winning the jackpot, and then she'd told them about the club they'd gone to in Las Vegas and Cas's reaction to it, and they'd all laughed until their stomachs hurt. But then she'd told them about Wyatt's death, and the mood turned quiet.

"See how much you miss when you don't go places with us?" Cas said. He had just appeared in the hallway of the house and he'd walked into the living room, towards the sound of the voices.

"How's Nicole? Has she calmed down any?" Gail asked her husband. He sat down beside her on the loveseat and took her hand. "I think she'll give him another chance," Cas replied. "She probably just needs a day or so to think about what we discussed. How was your talk with Dean?"

Gail rolled her eyes. "He's an ass," she told him.

"I'm aware of that," Cas said, his eyes dancing with amusement. "But I was curious about your talk."

The four of them talked for a few minutes about Dean and Nicole's situation. Then Rob came into the living room. "Mom, Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?" he said.

"Ummm...hi, Rob," Gail said dryly.

Rob looked at her. "I'm sorry, Aunt Gail," he said in a trembling voice. "But I was laying down on my bed reading, and I fell asleep. I dreamed that there was a big flood, and then I dreamed about a lake on fire. The lady who killed my dad was there." He looked at Cas. "And then, you were in a small, dark room, all by yourself. And I had brothers and sisters."

"Wow, that's a lot of information, all at once," Frank remarked. "C'mere." He reached out and pulled Rob into his lap, and the boy didn't protest. Frank knew that meant that his son had been really shaken up by the visions.

In truth, Rob had seen even more than that, and what he'd seen had scared him, bad. But when he'd rushed into the living room and seen the Angels, he had clammed up. He was reluctant to say everything he'd seen in front of them, because a lot of the scariest stuff he'd seen had to do directly with them.

"That does it," Jody said, frustrated. "I say we just storm into that office and make Ms. Scanlon talk, by whatever means necessary."

"Sure. Then we'll be able to pay for our bail with the money that Cas and Gail just gave us. Too bad our kids will be without parents, when we go to jail," Frank said sarcastically.

"I have a better idea," Gail said, starting to smile. "Why don't Cas and I pay her a visit? We can pose as a married couple wanting a baby and see what happens. Then, if she won't play ball, Cas can use the two-finger system on her. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me," Jody said firmly. "We've got to find out what that place has to do with the both of you."

Gail nodded. While she was aware that whatever information they might find out about Rob's adoption, or her own, wouldn't help cure Rob's visions, it might make him feel better if they could at least find out where his psychic powers came from. And Gail was curious about her origins, as well. So much had been alluded to about her father potentially being the worst kind of individual imaginable, and possibly even the killer of Frank's parents. Was that true, and should they be concerned about him? But, why would he not have shown his face this whole time? And what about Gail's mother? Who was she?

"Well, why don't we go right now?" Gail suggested. "We don't have anything planned. We'll just pop over there and see if she'll take us without an appointment." She nudged Cas. "Put some of our money in your wallet, in case we need to bribe her to take us right away. We'll give her a sob story about us wanting a baby really bad, and we'll see what happens."

Rob squirmed off Frank's lap, frustrated. He knew that wasn't going to do any good, but he also knew that they weren't going to listen to him. He wished they wouldn't go there. He wished that he had never brought it up. Gail had no idea. She was stirring up a hornet's nest. "I'll be in my room," Rob announced. He ran upstairs.

The adults all looked at each other for a moment. "Teenagers," Jody sighed.

Frank frowned. "I'll go talk to him."

"OK, well, we'll get going, then," Gail told the couple. "We'll call you when we get back."

Frank headed up the stairs, the Angels popped out, and Jody let out a relieved breath. She thought they'd never leave. She was already late for her second nap of the day. She stretched out on the couch, then promptly fell asleep.

Frank knocked on the door of Rob's room, then opened it without waiting for a response. Rob was laying on his bed staring up at the ceiling, but he sat up when his dad entered the room.

"I know how much it sucks," Frank said without preliminary. "It got to the point where your Aunt Gail was scared to even accidentally touch somebody, when we went out in public. I wish I could fix it for you, but I can't." He sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at the boy.

"I know that, Dad," Rob responded. "I'm not a little kid anymore." He was silent for a moment, and then he said, "Do you remember when my dad killed my mom? You came up here to tell me about it. I knew you couldn't fix that either, but you made me feel better, anyway. I don't think I ever thanked you and mom for taking me in. You could have just given me to foster care or something, but you didn't. I know I've been a dick, Dad. It can't be easy having a kid like me, sometimes."

Frank had a lump in his throat the size of a grapefruit now. "Are you kidding? It's the easiest thing in the world," he told Rob. "When you love somebody, anything's possible. If I could handle your Aunt Gail for all those years, I can handle you." He leaned down close to his son. "And between you and me, she was a giant pain in the ass."

Rob laughed. "You'd better not let her hear you say that, Dad. She'll zap you. Or Cas will."

Frank looked at his son. "Elephant," he said.

Rob sighed. He knew exactly what his dad was talking about, but he didn't know what to say about it. "I'm sorry, Dad. I just can't help it. Cas sent all of you out there for a year, and it didn't even do any good. All it did was take you guys away from me and make your hair grey. Then, he took Uncle Dean to Madagascar, and got him killed! If Aunt Gail hadn't gone behind Cas's back and insisted on doing that spell, Uncle Dean would still be dead, and I'd be in Canada!"

Frank waited a moment, but Rob was finished his rant. "We probably should have had this talk a long time ago," he told his son. "But we can't keep going back to that year we lost, and it's not fair to blame your Uncle Cas for it, anyway. He used his best judgement at the time. And yes, it screwed up our family, but that's selfish thinking, Rob. We're trying to raise you better than that. We saved lots of lives by being out there, and sometimes, you have to be willing to sacrifice in order to do the right thing. Your Uncle Dean knows that, and that was why he was willing to die. But that can't be laid at your Uncle Cas's doorstep, either. Lucifer fooled us all into thinking that it was God's Will. By the time they realized that he'd screwed them over, it was too late. And I'm not even gonna bother asking you how you know about Cas and Gail and the spell, because I know better by now. But I will tell you something you don't know. Actually, a couple of things. First of all, I love Dean like a brother. It broke my heart in two when he died. I was a pallbearer at his funeral, burning a body that I thought was him. And yet, all that time, my own sister and Dean's brother were planning to use that spell to bring him back. But they didn't tell any of us. They didn't tell me or your mother, they didn't tell Dean's girlfriend, and they didn't even tell Cas. And, let me tell you, Rob, when I found out, I was pretty mad. But then, I got to thinking about it. If you ever tell anybody about this, I'll kick your butt six ways from Sunday. But, I'm glad they didn't tell me what they were planning, because I would've marched right over to your Uncle Cas and told him, and then, I would have helped him burn that damn book."

Rob gasped. "No way," he said, dazed.

"Yes, way," Frank retorted, but he did so gently. "And I'll tell you why. Because the witch who wrote that book - and I'm only using that particular word in deference to your mother, 'cause I'd like to use a way more descriptive one - is Rowena, the King of Hell's mother. Remember her, at your Uncle Bobby's wake? Her and Crowley? I told you what the two of them did to me, and to Gail, the other night. They can't be trusted, Rob, and neither can anything that comes out of that book. We lucked out this time, but Dean could just as easily have come back as some kind of unholy...I don't know what. All I know is that Cas was right. It ripped his heart right out of his chest when Dean died, but Cas was trying to do the right thing, as he saw it. And Gail put her marriage to him at risk by proceeding with the spell behind his back, because she was trying to do the right thing, as she saw it."

Rob let out a frustrated breath. "So, how are we supposed to know what the right thing IS, Dad?" he asked Frank.

"Ahh, young Grasshopper, therein lies the rub," Frank said, raising his eyebrows.

"Huh?" Rob said, puzzled.

"Never mind. We're gonna have to start a reading list for you, until you go to school in the fall. I'll get your Aunt Gail to jot down a few of the classics."

Rob groaned, and Frank's face broke into a grin. "Don't worry, we'll get her to throw a few fantasy books in there too, just for fun," he told the boy. "Although how those books are going to rival your real life is beyond me." He leaned over and gave Rob a big, smacking kiss on the cheek. "I love ya, kiddo."

"Dad! Gross! You're slobbering all over me!" Rob exclaimed, rubbing his cheek.

"Then my job here is done," Frank said. He stood from the bed and walked over to the door.

"Dad?" Rob said from behind him, and Frank turned around. "I love you, too," Rob said. Frank smiled, and then he left the room quickly, so his son wouldn't see the tears welling up in his eyes.

VIGNETTE - UNDERCOVER ANGELS

Gail had insisted that they stop by the house first and change clothes. She thought that the Scanlon woman might be more inclined to see them without an appointment if they looked and behaved like wealthy people.

They popped into the bedroom, and Gail opened the closet. "You can put on your suit, and I'll put on a dress and heels. Then we'll get a wad of money and you can put it in your wallet. If she makes noises about not being able to see us, you can pull out your wallet and pretend like you're looking for your business card. I betcha when she sees all that money, she'll be able to squeeze us in."

Cas smiled. "I imagine you're right," he agreed.

"So, do you think Nicole is going to forgive Dean?" she asked him absently. Her back was still to her husband. She reached down and pulled her top off over her head, dropping it on the floor. Then she undid her jeans and stepped out of them.

Cas wasn't answering. She turned around to look at him. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, stripped to his shorts. "Can you come here for a moment?" he asked his wife.

She cocked her head. "Why?" she asked him suspiciously.

"I just want to ask you something," he said innocently.

Gail was trying not to smile. "You know, for an Angel, your innocent act really needs work," she told him. But she was moving towards him anyway. "What did you want to ask me?" she said when she got there.

He put his hands on her waist. "What's that on your lips?" he asked her.

Gail's hand went to her mouth. "Do I have something on my lips?"

"Yes. My lips," Cas said, smiling. He lifted her up and laid her down on the bed, kissing her on the mouth. His tongue poked out, looking for hers.

"We're supposed to be going," she protested weakly.

Cas had her bra undone now, and he was pulling down her underwear. He was getting just a little too good at that. "We'll just give her more money," he said, shrugging.

Gail gave up. That didn't even make any sense. But his fingers were between her legs now and his tongue was on her body, and wasn't Denver an hour ahead of Kansas, time-wise?

"I love you, Cas," she said. Then his shorts were off, and then they were both crying out each other's names.

Nearly an hour later, they were showered and dressed to the nines, entering Cathy's office. She looked up. "Can I help you?"

They had discussed it, and they had decided that Cas was going to take the lead. He was going to be a well-heeled businessman, who wanted an heir for the family fortune. "Yes, my wife and I would like to see Cathy Scanlon," Cas said, with a touch of arrogance in his voice.

Cathy stood from her desk, assessing the couple. She'd noticed right away that they were very well-dressed, of course. Also, the man had opened the door first, and his wife was peeking out timidly from behind him.

"I am she," Cathy said formally.

Cas strode forward, extending his hand. "How do you do," he said, matching her tone. "I am Cas, and this is my wife, Sarah. We were given your name as someone who might be able to assist us in having a child."

Cathy took his hand, giving him a brief handshake. "I may be able to help you with that, but I usually don't take walk-ins. I could book you an appointment-"

"No," Cas interrupted her. "I don't have that kind of time. My business interests take me out of town very frequently. If you require a show of good faith, I will gladly pay you extra for your time."

He reached for his wallet, but suddenly, there was a loud clattering noise that came from the back, beyond the door behind Cathy's desk. She jumped slightly. "Excuse me for a moment," she told the couple. "I have to see what that was. Have a seat."

As Cas pulled Gail's chair for her to sit down, Cathy hurried back to the storeroom.

"What are you doing?" she asked Vincent.

"I wanted to get your attention, but I didn't want to go out there," he said. He was looking in the direction of the office where the Angels were, a slight smirk on his face. "What do those two want?"

Cathy gave him a half-shrug. "What most of them want. A baby."

"Do they, now?" Vincent was highly amused, and he was also more than a little impressed. He knew exactly who those two were. The instant his daughter had walked in, he'd been able to feel her. He had a psychic connection with all of the children he had fathered. So she was an Angel now, and married to the highest-ranking Angel in Heaven, the notorious Castiel. Well, good for her. Now, he was overwhelmed by curiosity. He had to get a look at them.

"Take them into the examination room," Vincent ordered Cathy. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. It was better just to do as he said.

So she came back out to the office and asked the couple to follow her into the examination room. Cas and Gail exchanged glances. But, at least she wasn't kicking them out, as she had done with the others. And if they pressed the subject of adoption right away, she would probably become suspicious. So they followed her to the examination room.

"You can disrobe and put on that gown," Cathy said to Gail. "I'll be back in a minute, and then we'll have a look at you." She looked at Cas. "You can wait back in the office, if you wish."

"That won't be happening," he told her dismissively.

Cathy nodded briefly. She'd figured as much. This was the type of man who thought his wife was his property. "Fine, then," she said curtly.

Once Cathy had left the room, Gail looked at Cas. "No way I'm getting undressed here," she told him. "We both know it's unnecessary. Plus, look at the big mirror she's got there on the wall. I'm sure I really need to see myself naked in a full-length mirror," she added sarcastically.

Cas smiled gently at her. "I think that would be a beautiful sight," he remarked. "But yes, you're right. There's no need for you to disrobe. I'll wait behind the door and when she comes back in, I'll apply the two-finger system."

Vincent was inspecting the couple from the other side of the two-way mirror, and he was intrigued by what he was seeing. So, this was Baby Gail now, all grown up. She still had the same dark hair and big, dark eyes. She wasn't beautiful, despite what her husband had said, nor even particularly attractive. But there was a spark about her, a vivacity that made her stand out. Vincent continued to watch the couple. He had told Cathy to go back to her desk for fifteen minutes, so that he could watch them alone.

"So far, this place seems fairly innocuous," Cas remarked. "This room actually looks as one would imagine a doctor's office examining room to look."

"Except for that mirror," Gail said, staring at it. She couldn't seem to stop looking at the mirror. Its presence here struck her as kind of odd, like finding a balloon in a business office, or something. Incongruous, like it didn't quite belong.

Cas was scrutinizing the mirror. He hadn't really thought about it one way or the other. For obvious reasons, medical examining rooms were a mystery to him.

Vincent was coolly appraising his daughter's husband now. The vessel this Angel had chosen was very aesthetically pleasing, but more than that, Vincent could tell right away that Castiel was an Alpha male. It was obvious in his bearing, and in the way he'd talked to Cathy. Gail had married well.

Gail hiked herself up on the table and sat there, legs dangling. "I wonder what's taking her so long," she commented.

Cas came over to stand in front of her, taking her hands in his. "I can go get her, if you'd like," he said to his wife.

Gail shrugged. "No, it's OK. Like I told Frank and Jody, we're in no particular hurry. If we don't behave normally, she might get suspicious. She's probably just giving me time to get undressed."

"All right, my love. You just relax," Cas said. He gave her a light kiss on the lips, then released her hands and started pacing around the room. Cas's gaze also kept returning to the mirror. Now that Gail had pointed out its incongruity here, Cas was getting a strange feeling about it. It felt almost as if there were some kind of otherworldly vibration coming from that space on the wall.

For his part, Vincent could feel the powerful celestial waves coming from Castiel now, as the Angel became agitated. As Castiel stared into the mirror, Vincent found himself feeling the urge to take a step back. He'd never felt anything like that before. How interesting. His respect for his daughter grew. What a clever girl. She may have married for attraction, or even for love, but her husband exuded much power, the kind of power that would make him a formidable adversary indeed. Vincent would have to keep tabs on these two, going forward.

Cas was frowning at the mirror. What was this feeling he had now? How could an inanimate object be making him feel so uneasy? But Gail began to smile. After her initial bout of uneasiness, now that she had moved to the other side of the room away from the mirror, she wasn't feeling that strange about it any more.

"Don't worry, you look fantastic, as always," she teased her husband. "I think we should find excuses to put you in that suit more often."

Cas gave her a brief smile, but he still felt uneasy. Nevertheless, he drifted back to the table where she was sitting. "What's the matter, sweetie?" Gail asked him.

Cas shook himself out of his reverie. He was just being silly. "Nothing, my love," he told her. He looked at her, then down at the table. He touched the stirrups, wrinkling his forehead. "What are these? Why are they here?" he asked her, puzzled.

Gail smiled. "Believe me, sweetie, you don't want to know," she told him. "You'll be a lot happier if you never, ever find that out."

Cas opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He looked at her, then looked at the table, then back at her again. Gail was trying not to laugh now. He was just too cute. She could see the hamster wheel spinning in his head, trying to work it out. "Put it this way: I'm very, very glad I don't have to worry about those kinds of exams anymore," she said with a grin. Cas gave the stirrups another uncomfortable glance, and then he moved away from the table.

He wandered over to the counter, where a plastic model of a woman's body stood. He squinted at it. It was one of those models that was comprised of clear plastic and small multicoloured pieces, which represented the various organs of the body. Fascinating. He could see the heart, the lungs and the liver, and because the model was that of a woman, there were other, internal organs that comprised the womb. It was astonishing, really, what the human body looked like on the inside. And because he and Gail had vessels, this is what they looked like on the inside, too, at least in the forms they presently had. Castiel's true appearance was much different, of course.

He glanced at his wife. This was what she looked like, on the inside. She hadn't been an Angel for nearly long enough yet to have evolved into the type of being that Castiel himself was. He felt a frisson of excitement at the prospect of Gail's continued growth in that area. One day they would be able to shed their human outfits and meld their essences together when they so chose. Just as she had been able to see and touch his true self on their wedding night, one day she would acquire that same type of form, herself. He couldn't wait for that day.

But for the moment, anyway, this was what Gail looked like on the inside. Cas reached out and touched the plastic model, and it promptly collapsed, with a loud clatter. Gail burst out laughing as Cas panicked, awkwardly clutching at the torso and the tiny plastic organs. He tried to reassemble the model in its original condition, but he ended up holding a piece of plastic that looked like a tiny vegetable of some sort.

"Where does this one go?" Cas asked his wife. She had one hand over her mouth now, trying to keep the snickers from escaping. "What are you asking ME for?" Gail said. "I don't even know what half of that stuff is, and I'm pretty sure that I don't want to! Lucky I never have that reaction when you touch me!" She removed her hand and let a few giggles escape. It was just too funny. Cas had successfully righted the model now and put most of the organs back on it, but he still had the tiny "extra" piece in his hand, and now he was examining the model intently again.

Suddenly, Cathy came back in the room. Cas started guiltily, putting the hand that still held the tiny plastic piece behind his back. Gail was losing it now. Just the look on his face...If she laughed any harder, she was going to fall right off the table.

Cathy was looking at the two of them suspiciously. She had no idea what was going on here, but it didn't really matter. She had her instructions. Vincent had come out to the office and told her to get rid of the couple. He'd satisfied his curiousity now.

"Something has come up," Cathy told them. "You'll have to leave."

Cas put the piece of plastic on the counter and moved forward. "What? Why?" he asked the woman.

She looked at him, and her eyes widened. For a moment there, he had reminded her very strongly of Vincent. How strange. Vincent hadn't bothered to enlighten Cathy about who this couple really were, or their significance.

"Oh, look. You have a spot, right here," Cas said casually. He reached out his hand and touched Cathy's forehead. She was transfixed. She stood very still as Cas entered her mind.

But it was very strange. He was walking around in a heavy fog waving his arms, as if doing so would clear the mist. Cas had never seen anything like it. He'd searched many minds in his existence, and he had never been blocked like this.

Eventually, the mist cleared enough for Cas to see rows upon rows of cribs, each one with a baby in it. Well, that wasn't particularly surprising. Even though she had yet to actually admit it to any of their group, Cas now knew that Cathy was the conduit for the adoption of those infants. But there was a lot more to it than that, he was sure of it. But, why couldn't he see it?

Suddenly, a tall, dark-haired man appeared out of the mist. He reached down into one of the cribs and picked up a baby, bouncing it in his arms. Then he smiled, chucking the infant under the chin and revealing the knife in his hand. As Cas watched in horror, the man used the knife to cut the baby. Then he held the infant up over himself with both hands, and let the blood produced by the cut drip onto his face.

Cathy seized Cas's hand and pulled it away from her head. "Get out now, while you still can," she said to him, wide-eyed. "If you value your wife's life, take her away from here, and don't come back!"

Cas was astonished. What the hell? Who was that man? Was it he who had been obscuring Cathy's thoughts, shielding them from Castiel's sight? He looked at Gail. Cas knew that she wanted to find out about her origins, and he knew that it was important to Frank and Jody to find out about Rob, as well. But Cas was totally discombobulated now. He had to think about what their next move should be, but he couldn't do it here, looking at this woman. Every moment he looked at Cathy's face, all he saw was that dark man with his dark grin, bathed in baby's blood.

He strode over to the examination table and grabbed his wife's hand, helping her off the table. The Angels left the room without another word, and they kept on going until they were out of the office and downstairs, in the street.

Cas winked them home, and they were discussing what he had seen in Cathy's mind as they began to change into more casual clothing.

Gail was appalled. "What the hell, Cas? What kind of a person takes a shower in baby's blood? Why would something like that be in that woman's head?"

Cas was frowning. He'd been frowning ever since they'd come back here. He walked around the bed and took both of her hands in his. "Sit down with me for a moment, please," he said. They sat down on the side of the bed together, and he looked at his wife with concern. "I think we might both know the answers to your questions already," he said softly.

Gail sighed heavily. "Great. My father is an evil bastard who likes to murder people and shower in baby's blood. Terrific."

Cas was agitated, to say the least. This was unbelievable. His poor, sweet wife. How on earth could she be the daughter of such an individual? He touched her face gently. "No, my love. Your father is God the Father. If this man happened to sire you, that does not make him your father."

Gail tried to smile. "Thank you for that, sweetie. But hey, on the bright side, if Rob and I ever have a Worst Father contest, I can definitely give him a run for his money." Then her smile faded. Rob. "What are we going to tell them, Cas? We didn't really find anything out, did we?"

"Well then, that's what we're going to report," Cas replied. "There's no sense worrying them without any facts. We don't know anything for sure right now." He gave her hands a squeeze. "But, I'll tell you something. If this man poses any threat to you, any threat at all, I will deal with him. That woman said if I value your life, we should stay away? Weel, I say that if they value their lives, they had better not make any trouble for you." His jaw was clenched now. Ever since he and Gail had met, it seemed that she had been in a constant state of peril. It was so unfair. He was simply not going to allow it.

He told her this now, and she couldn't help but smile. "You're extremely sexy when you go into protective mode," Gail said to her husband. She leaned forward and kissed him softly on the cheek.

Cas smiled back. It was a serious subject, but he knew what she was doing now. She was trying to lessen his anxiety, and her own. He nuzzled her cheek with his. "I'm glad you think so," he told her. "You know, I had heard that married couples' passion for each other can lessen over the years. I hope you never feel that way."

"Are you kidding?" Gail said incredulously. "Every time I look at you, I still can't believe you're my husband. And every time you kiss me, or hold my hand, I can't believe that you love me."

"Why would that be so hard to believe?" Cas asked her. He was genuinely puzzled. "You are the most lovable person that I have ever met."

"And that's why I call you 'sweetie'. It's because you're so sweet," Gail commented. She caressed his face with her hand, and he took her hand and kissed it.

Cas's eyes searched her face. This business with her father was making her feel insecure again; he could tell. Intellectually, it was understandable. If a person who was as repugnant as her biological father had not wanted Gail, what did that say about her? It hurt Cas very much to think that she would feel that way, but he knew that she did.

"I love you more than I could ever put into words. More than you could ever imagine," Cas told her. "I wish that you could see yourself the way that I see you. You are beautiful. You are perfect."

And you are blind, Gail though with wry amusement. But what was wonderful was that she knew he really did feel that way. She launched herself into his arms, and he wound his arms around her, kissing her on the mouth. Then he lifted her legs off the ground, laying her down on the pillows.

"This is the part where I show you how much I love you," Cas said charmingly.

"You show me every day, all the time," she said, smiling.

"Oh, so does that mean you would like me to stop?" he said teasingly. He was kissing her neck now, and his hand was caressing the soft skin of her stomach.

"Noooo," she murmured happily.

"Good, because I don't want to do that," he said. His lips were on her stomach now, and he trailed his tongue down to her belly button, where he tickled her until he received her customary giggle. Then he slid her underpants off of her and gently opened her legs. He lowered his head to her and lapped at her with his tongue, and her hands flew to his head. "That's so good, Cas," she told him. "You're so good. And you're so good to me."

He smiled at the compliment. But he clearly wasn't being good enough, because she was being too quiet. So he put his hands on her hips and drew her closer, and he sped up his tongue. A minute later, he was rewarded with her cries of pleasure. Then, after a minute or two more, he quickly took off his pants and entered her, lifting her legs up to his shoulders so that he could kiss them as he pushed into her. The angle was so different, and the sight of him tenderly kissing her legs as he pushed himself in and out of her was so exciting that she shouted out again. Cas smiled, and then he lowered himself on top of her so that he could kiss her on the mouth. She caressed his back as his tongue found hers. Then she wrapped her legs around him and he moaned, and then he was still.

When they were laying together afterwards, Cas kissed her softly on the forehead. "Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're less than you are," he said in a gentle voice. "Don't ever let anyone subjugate you or try to tell you that you shouldn't be who you are."

She raised herself up so that she could look at his face. "What brought that on?" Gail asked her husband curiously.

Cas was thoughtful. He didn't know, exactly. "I just don't want anyone to undermine all the self-confidence I see in you now," he told her slowly. "I'm very proud of you, my darling. I probably don't say that enough."

She was very touched by what he was saying. "Thank you, sweetie. That means a lot to me, especially coming from you."

His forehead wrinkled. "What do you mean?"

She kissed his face. "I mean that I've seen so much improvement in you, too. You're confident, you're loving, you're funny, and you're compassionate. You're everything a good God should be."

Cas stroked her hair. "I suppose we should go to Heaven and find out more about the election, then. You know, I thought about just withdrawing my name from consideration, after Bobby got back and announced his candidacy. But we can't count on him to carry the vote, Gail. A lot of the Angels may be very angry at him for having resigned. That wasn't common knowledge at the time, but I'm fairly certain we can rely on Patricia to bring it up," he continued wryly. "In fact, we may have to be prepared for some character assassination, ourselves. Are you sure you're up to that?"

Gail shrugged. "What's she going to do? Call me a name, or two? I think I can take it, Cas. You're just going to have to make sure to hold on to your temper. It's not going to help your chances if you're angry all the time. You'll have to turn on that charm that I know you have an abundance of. That should translate into tons of votes."

"If I vote for you, will you vote for me?" Cas said, smiling shyly.

"I don't know," she said mischievously. "We'll see."

His hand went under the covers, and he started to caress her. "How about now?" he asked her.

"You have my attention," she told him pertly. "Now, show me why you should have my vote."

Then his hand moved in the way that he knew she liked, and she gasped. "You make an excellent point," she quipped. "Now, let's talk about your campaign promises."

A moment later, he was making love to her again, promising to love her forever and ever. And that was the only promise she would ever need.

It was getting to be early evening now, as the Angels got dressed again. They had decided that they wanted to bring the money that Gail had put aside for Barry and Tommy to the couple immediately, and Cas had called Tommy's cell to find out if it was convenient. Then, since they were going to Vancouver anyway, Cas called Richard to find out if it was all right to stop by the women's shelter to drop off their donation. Normally, they might have just put the envelope in the slot, as Cas had done many times before. But Richard advised that Aurielle had been asking after the couple, so Cas and Gail had decided that they would have a visit with her while they were there. And there was the other thing that Cas wanted to do in Vancouver, as well. He had also gleaned some information from Richard on that, without Richard's knowledge, just by asking a few cleverly worded questions.

But as Gail was retrieving the envelopes from the bureau, Dean called Cas's cell, asking if the couple could drop by the bunker for a moment. As soon as the Angels popped in, Dean rushed to Gail, hugging her to him. "I'm sorry," he said to her. "I apologize for being such a dick to you."

Gail hugged him back. She was pleasantly surprised. The fight with him had been bothering her, too. "Me, too," she said to Dean, giving him an extra squeeze before coming out of the embrace. "It was a stupid fight. I just want you to be happy, Dean, no matter what that entails."

Dean looked at Cas. "So..."

"So...what?" Cas asked his friend.

"So, what did Nicole say? Did you convince her to forgive me?"

"I think so," Cas said patiently. "But you'll probably want to give her some time to cool down. She'll likely be calling soon anyway, to invite us to the movie premiere. It's supposed to be coming out soon. But I think it would be a good idea for you to just leave it alone for a few days, Dean."

"Look at you, giving Dean advice on women," Sam said to Cas, grinning.

Cas brightened. "That's right. I did, didn't I? I wonder how I would look in a flannel shirt," he quipped.

Sam laughed, and Gail smiled. "No offense, guys," she said to the Winchesters, "but I think we'll keep things as they are. Although I still think we should find excuses to put you in that suit just a little more often," she said to her husband, smiling mischievously. "Rowr."

Cas smiled back at her, and then he said, "That reminds me. I should call Frank and give him our report, before I forget. Excuse me." He took out his cell phone and moved down the corridor.

"What's that all about?" Sam asked Gail. She sat down at the library table with the brothers and filled them in on Rob's visions, and her and Cas's visit to Cathy's office.

She was just getting to what Cas had seen when he'd searched Cathy's mind when her husband returned from his phone call. "Frank says hello," Cas told the Winchesters.

Dean waved his hand absently. He was appalled at what Gail had been saying. "So, this guy likes to take baby-blood showers in his spare time? Awesome," he said, both dazed and disgusted.

"And you guys think he's Gail's father?" Sam said to the Angels. He felt nauseous, not only at the imagery, but at the thought that such a horrible individual could be Gail's father.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, Sam," Cas answered for her. "We're all going to have to talk about that, at some point. It'll be up to Gail if she wants to pursue it, or not. I'll support her no matter what she decides."

Gail was looking down at the table's surface. "I'm going to have to think about it," she said soberly. "On the one hand, why stir up trouble? He's left me alone all these years, hasn't he? But on the other hand, if the guy's a murderer, we should do something about him, shouldn't we? But so far, we don't have any proof of anything, just a bunch of visions." She looked at Sam. "What might help is that journal we got from Quinn's place. Any word on where that might be?"

Sam frowned. "No. I'll call my guy again, see if I can't get him moving on that search. And I'm having lunch with Quinn tomorrow, so maybe I'll do a little gentle probing. See if she's gotten any more psychic flashes about it, or if Oliver has shown up again."

"Gentle probing?" Dean said, snickering. "Is that what you kids are calling it these days?"

"Shut up, Dean," Sam said good-naturedly.

"Well, on that note, we'd better get going before it gets too late," Gail said, rising from her chair.

"Oh, and thanks for the money, but we're gonna donate it to the AIDS Foundation," Dean told the couple, looking at Sam. "Both of us."

"That's wonderful," Cas told the men. "We'll tell Barry and Tommy. I'm sure they'll be pleased."

"Say hi for us," Sam said, as Cas took Gail's hand. "We will," Cas responded, and he winked them out of the bunker.

"It's funny; we've been seeing just as much of you guys since you moved out as we did when you were living in the bunker," Gail said, giving Barry a kiss on the cheek.

"Come in, come in," he insisted.

"We will, for a minute, but we can't stay long," Cas told him.

Barry ushered them into the living room, where Tommy was sitting on one end of the couch, having a beer. He sprang to his feet and rushed over to the couple. Cas gave Tommy a one-armed hug and presented him with the envelope full of money.

The men thanked the Angels profusely. "Now I don't have to worry about emptying our savings account," Barry said, clapping Cas on the shoulder.

"Well, that was kind of the idea," Gail said to them. "You guys are our very, very good friends, and I'm so glad we could help you out. You put your entire lives on hold to help us throughout that whole Lucifer thing. To help the whole world, really. So now, it's your time. Go ahead and plan the wedding. Just tell us when and where, and we'll show up."

"Oh, and Sam and Dean say hello," Cas added. He told the men about the brothers' plan to donate to the AIDS Foundation, and the couple was touched.

"Those are some terrific friends we've got there," Tommy remarked thoughtfully. "I'm so glad you were able to bring Dean back to us."

"Me too," Gail replied. "It's great to have our family back together again. Well, so to speak. You guys are all the way up here, now. But remember, we're all just a phone call away."

There were hugs and kisses all around, and then the Angels popped over to the women's shelter. Richard had let the staff know that Cas and Gail were coming, and to please let them in when they got there.

Richard had described the couple, but there had been no need, because when they got there, Aurielle saw them on the security camera. She buzzed them in, and hurried to the front entrance to greet them.

"Castiel! Gail! How are you?" Aurielle said enthusiastically. She extended her hand for each of them to shake. Then, she lowered her voice. "I'm hoping you're going to tell me that, since you are here, it means that Lucifer is back in his cage now."

"Lucifer is no more," Cas informed her. "And Metatron fell, as well."

Aurielle's mouth opened in surprise. "That must have been quite the battle," she remarked. She paused for a moment, and then she asked, "And, what of Crowley?"

Cas's lips twitched. "Unfortunately, he survived."

Gail and Aurielle both laughed simultaneously. The women looked at each other for a moment. "I'm very glad you survived," Aurielle said, smiling at Cas's wife. "Both of you. Please, come into the office. We can sit down and have a chat."

They followed her inside. Cas handed the envelope to Aurielle. "Will you give this to one of the staff members?" he asked her.

Aurielle smiled again. "Actually, I AM a staff member now," she said. "I no longer reside here, but I do work here, and I volunteer to help out in my off hours, too. So I guess you could say that I sort of live here, still. But I'm no longer a patron. After many therapy sessions and much soul-searching, pun definitely intended, I have discovered who and what I truly am. I wanted to talk to the both of you about that." She gestured. "Please, sit down."

Once they were all seated, Aurielle looked warmly at the couple. "I owe the two of you a lot. If you had not brought me to this place, I don't know what would have become of me. But because you took mercy on me and gave me the opportunity for redemption, I have flourished here. The staff took note of my organizational skills, and I started working for them here while I was still a resident, on a strictly voluntary basis. Then one of the office workers retired, and they offered me her position. I get pay, and benefits. I am earning a living, for the first time in...well, forever. I've gotten a very small studio apartment that's walking distance from here, just so I can have the experience of taking care of a place all by myself, and a smidgen of independence. But my heart keeps bringing me back here, and I can see that both of you feel the same way."

Then Aurielle frowned. "Before Metatron left for the movie set, he accompanied Richard here. Metatron donated half of the salary he earned for writing the Supernatural movie script to this shelter. It was anonymously done, but because I worked here in the office, I was privy to the details. He kept looking at me as though he knew who I was, but I don't see how he could have known. I'm human now, and my appearance is totally different than he would remember. Oh, and I go by a different name here. A lot of the women have 'shelter names', as we call them. Sometimes, for safety reasons, and other times, simply because we wish to make a statement about ourselves. My shelter name is 'Aurora', which represents a new beginning. Maybe that was too close to my Angel name, and that was why he kept looking at me the way he did. In any event, I was happy to see that he seemed sincere about wanting to make some sort of gesture of atonement. Did he stand with you against Lucifer?"

Cas and Gail told her what had happened out on the hallowed ground. When they told her about Sam having stabbed Dean to death, Aurielle gasped. Then, when they told her about Crowley's very active part in dispatching Lucifer, Aurielle's mouth fell open. But then, when Gail told the former Angel how she used Rowena's spell book to bring Dean back to life, Aurielle's eyes widened. "No! Not that unholy book!" she exclaimed.

But then the Angels explained to Aurielle their reasoning that the book itself was not evil, nor was the spell, necessarily. It was the intent with which the spell was done that determined its result. Since their love for Dean and for each other was the overriding factor, Dean had come back as himself, with no adverse effects. Although the Angels wouldn't have been aware of it, when Rowena had used that same spell to bring Crowley back, he had descended into alcoholism and bitterness for a time. But because Fergus MacLeod had always had those qualities as an adult human, no one had really noticed.

Aurielle appeared unconvinced, but she said, "I am so glad you got your friend back. But please, Gail, please, be careful with that book. I know very well what kind of a temptation magic that powerful can be. I never properly apologized to the both of you for my use of that book's spell on you, Castiel. That's just one of the things I will regret until the end of my days. I am so sorry."

Cas and Gail looked at each other. It was funny, really. They'd almost forgotten about that. The revelation of what Metatron had done to them in that cabin had been such a shock that it had overshadowed everything else.

"We accept your apology," Castiel said to Aurielle. "We were on our way to forgiving Metatron too, but he died before we had the chance to have that discussion. And what you did was wrong, but your offense was far less serious than his."

Aurielle looked at Castiel inquiringly. Was he referring to The Fall, now? Or was there more to it than that? Castiel was working his jaw now, and Aurielle knew that look. She had studied Castiel's face for aeons, when she had been obsessed with him. She knew every nuance of his expressions.

But Gail put her hand on her husband's arm. There was no point in bringing that whole modification mess up with Aurielle. She hadn't been to blame for any of that, and she seemed so at peace with herself now. "Let's not rehash any of that old junk," Gail said. "Let's talk about the present instead, and the future. I'm glad to see you're doing so well for yourself, Aurora," she continued, using Aurielle's shelter name on purpose. "You should be very proud of yourself."

Aurielle smiled at her. Now she could finally see why Castiel loved Gail so much. It was amazing that Gail could speak to her so nicely, after everything that Aurielle had done. She WAS proud of herself, actually. It had taken a lot of work, but Aurielle had finally come to the realization that she had not been in love with Castiel, after all. She had simply been obsessed with him, projecting her lack of self-worth onto him. She had chosen to fixate on someone who could never love her back, thereby creating an impossible situation for herself. When Castiel didn't return her affections, Aurielle was receiving the message that she wasn't worthy of anyone's love. Then the self-loathing would begin, and then, the stubbornness would set in. If she could only get Castiel to love her, then that would prove that she was someone who was worthy of love. But then, when he still did not return her affections, Aurielle switched gears, blaming Gail for impeding the path to true love. Surely if Gail weren't around, distracting Castiel with her Earthly ways, he would have recognized the depths of Aurielle's feelings for him. So Aurielle had tried her best to remove Gail from the picture, and then later, she had allowed others to feed her delusions, promising to deliver Castiel to her if she would only do what they wanted. But it had all been a big lie. All of it. Aurielle knew that now, without a shadow of a doubt. She had been eager to see Castiel and Gail, to tell them that, and to apologize. Also, this was the ultimate litmus test. If she could look at the couple with Sisterly regard only, Aurielle would know once and for all that she had been cured of her obsession. She looked at Castiel. He was as handsome as always, and his blue eyes were sparkling. But now that she was able to look at him objectively, Aurielle could see that his eyes were sparkling because he was happy, and he was happy because he was sitting beside his wife, holding her hand. Then Aurielle looked at Gail, and she was heartened to realize that she felt no animosity towards Gail any more, only happiness that Gail had found true love with the man she had clearly been destined to be with. Perhaps Aurielle would be fortunate enough to experience that same sort of feeling, before she had to leave this life. But she wasn't going to "go there" again, as the expression went. If it happened, that would be wonderful, but Aurielle had a happy life now, and she didn't want to mess with it.

"Aurora, have you - " a woman started to say, entering the office. Then, she stopped short. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you had company."

Castiel stood, out of force of habit. He'd been thrown back into Castiel mode by the subject matter of their conversation, and a female had entered the room. Aurielle smiled. She was no longer in love with him, but it was nice to see that some things didn't change.

She looked up at Valerie. "It's OK, Val. These two are old friends, and great benefactors to the shelter."

Valerie moved forward. "I know you," she said to Cas. "Why do I know you?"

Cas was stricken. She knew him because of that conversation they'd had, when he had first visited the shelter. Valerie had told Cas her horrifying story, and Cas had confessed to her that he himself had been an abuser. That was back when they thought that he had been one, of course. "I've been here before," he said weakly. He looked down at Gail. "This is my wife, Gail. Gail, this is Valerie. I don't know if you remember my mentioning having met her here, before."

"Yes, I remember," Gail said. She got to her feet, too, and extended her hand to Valerie. Valerie took it. She was looking from Cas to Gail, and back again. "So, the two of you are married, now?" Valerie remarked.

Gail interpreted her look correctly. "My brother has an expression," the Angel said. "Whenever there's a topic hovering over the room that no one wants to talk about, even though they should be talking about it, we say 'elephant'. That alerts the other people that you're calling them on it. So, I'm going to go ahead and elephant this, right now. Cas was never an abuser, Valerie. It's a long and complicated story, but basically, he was brainwashed into thinking that he was one."

Valerie released Gail's hand and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, really?" she said skeptically. She'd heard those kinds of excuses before. Hell, she'd MADE those kinds of excuses before.

"What's this? What are you talking about?" Aurielle asked, puzzled. Since she'd never had any knowledge of Metatron's modification of the Angels' minds, she had no idea.

"Nothing. Never mind," Gail said quickly. "We have to be going, anyway. It was great to see you again, Aurora."

"And it was wonderful to see the both of you again. Thank you for your generous donation. Valerie and I will decide how to put it to its best use, won't we, Val?" Aurielle said, looking warmly at the woman.

"We sure will," Valerie replied, smiling.

Gail took Cas's hand. "Let's go," she said to him. "There's no need to see us out," she said to the women.

When the Angels were back outside on the sidewalk, Cas turned to Gail. "I'm sorry. I hope you weren't too uncomfortable back there," he said to his wife.

"Not at all," she assured him. "I remember your telling me about your conversation with her. I guess she's confused now, but she and Aurielle will probably talk about it. There's nothing we can do about it now, anyway. But I don't want to pull on that thread, Cas. Everybody's happy, now."

Cas smiled gently. "Aurielle does really seem at peace, now. I'm glad. And I'm glad she doesn't love me anymore. We can finally put that to rest, as well."

"That's because she loves Valerie," Gail stated matter-of-factly.

If Cas had been taking a drink of something, he would have spit it out. "What?" he exclaimed.

Gail shrugged. "She loves Valerie. I could see it in Aurielle's eyes, the moment Valerie walked in the room. But I don't think it's the crazy, obsessive kind of love she had for you. I really think she's OK now, Cas." Gail paused. "It just goes to show you that every case is different, I guess. We did what we had to do when it came to Lucifer, but in this instance, a little mercy went a long way. Now she's helping people, Cas. We can be very happy about what we did here."

Cas nodded. Gail was right. He was just about to take her hand and wink them home when he got a call from Bobby on Angel Radio.

"Hey, Cas, you and Gail busy at the moment?" he asked.

"Not really, Bobby. What's up?"

"Then I think you'd better get your keisters up here to Heaven," Bobby said bluntly. "I'll explain when you get here." Then he abruptly signed off.

What now? Cas thought. He told Gail about Bobby's call. "OK, we'd better hurry up and do that other thing we'd planned to do here, and then get up there," Gail said. "Lucky we don't sleep, 'cause it's been a long day," she added with a wry smile.

She and Cas walked around the corner, linked hands, then winked to their next destination.


	3. Battle Lines

Chapter 3 - Battle Lines

When Cas and Gail got up to Heaven, Bobby was waiting impatiently for them in his office.

"What's up, Bobby?" Cas asked their friend. "You sounded worried when you called."

"I am," Bobby acknowledged. "You told me Patricia was bad, but I had no idea how bad."

"How bad IS she, Bobby?" Gail asked him in a quiet voice. Bobby's agitation was contagious. "What's she doing?"

"She's been saying a lot of stuff I don't like," Bobby responded. "Talking about how things were better in ancient times. Saying she'll burn up those new laws we wrote and cancel all assignments to Earth."

Cas frowned. "She said things like that to me, as well."

Bobby gazed at him. "You realize she's talking about you and Gail, right?"

Cas was startled. "What? No, I just assumed we'd be grandfathered."

Gail grabbed Cas's arm. "She can't do that, can she, Cas? Prevent us from going to Earth?"

Cas put his hand on hers absently. He was thinking furiously now. "If she's God, I assure you, she can," he told his wife grimly. "I wonder if we shouldn't have a talk with her about that. Perhaps if we find out why she's entertaining such a radical stance, we can open up a dialogue."

Gail smiled. "Look at you, being all diplomatic. I'm proud of you, sweetie. That's just what a good God would do. No offense, Bobby."

Bobby was shaking his head. "OK, that's the first thing the three of us have to agree on. There'll be none of that. We're all friends here, but the fact is, we're all running for the Office. We can't be tripping all over ourselves every time we talk about the campaign. Let's just go with may the best man - or woman - win." He smiled grimly. "Just as long as it's not Patricia. Hey, I want to be able to go to Earth as much as you guys do. But I'll tell you something: you both need to start campaigning. Patricia's been talking and talking, and more and more of the Angels are starting to listen."

"How can they listen to those kinds of things?" Cas said angrily. "Do they WANT to go back to the Dark Ages? There was a reason they were called that, and I ought to know, because I was there. Religious persecution, inquisitions, torture...no happiness, or pleasure of any kind. We'd be living in a nightmare. Why would the Angels listen to talk like that?"

"They're listening because she's pretty much the only one who's doing the talking, Cas," Bobby pointed out. "That's why I called the two of you to come up here. I've been doing some informal polls, and I found that there are a lot of Angels who want to hear from you. What's your platform? What are your ideas? What's your vision for Heaven?"

Cas and Gail exchanged glances. "I don't think we've really..." Cas started to say, and Bobby nodded. "I figured as much," he said. "People want strong leadership, Cas. And you know yourself that most Angels aren't exactly self-starters, if ya know what I mean."

"He's right, Cas. We'd better start thinking about those kinds of things," Gail said.

"And the other problem is, you're never here," Bobby told the couple. "Patricia's already been making a big deal about that. Do they really want a God who's never around? I've been talking you both up, reminding people that you've both done a lot of good on Earth. If you hadn't been on Earth, Lucifer would still be out there, doing Lord only knows what. He might even still be here in Heaven, if it weren't for you two. But people have short memories, and they only trust what they can see and hear. Even if they're not drinking Patricia's dark Kool-Aid of prejudice against humans and medieval thinking, she's been poisoning their minds against the two of you, saying you care more about Earth then you do about Heaven. And if you're never here, it looks like she's right."

The couple thought about that for a minute. They couldn't refute Bobby's logic. Gail smiled. "Have you really been talking us up to the Angels? That's sweet, Bobby."

"Yeah, well, I've got my own campaign to run, so don't expect a lot of that, going forward," Bobby said gruffly. "But like I said, we have to make sure she doesn't win."

Gail looked at Cas. She didn't want to say so out loud right now, but in her opinion, her husband was Patricia's real competition. First off, he was a male, and like it or not, God had always traditionally been a male. She really doubted that the Angels were that progressive. And, number two, Castiel had been an Angel for just about forever, and she knew that length of service was important to older, longer-serving Angels. Even if they didn't think that much of Cas personally, that kind of thing would be important to them. Also, it was evident that Castiel had been God's favourite, and she was sure that fact would weigh heavily in his favour. When their Father had been about to retire, it was Cas He had wanted to hand the reins over to in the first place. Patricia would probably lean heavily on the fact that Cas had turned the job down at the time, but people were allowed to change their minds, weren't they? He's had God's seal of approval, that was the main thing. And lastly, Castiel was the hero, the Angel who had finally and decisively vanquished Lucifer. As a selling point, how could you beat that? Yes, Castiel was definitely the front-runner. Not for the first time, Gail wondered if she herself should bother to campaign at all.

"While you two are ruminating on that, I've got something to show you, Cas," Bobby said. Then he gave Gail a look.

"Really? It's ready, already?" she said delightedly.

"Hey, I don't sleep any more, and I'm not sore 24/7," Bobby said, shrugging. "So that means I can get a lot more done."

Cas looked from his wife to Bobby, and then back again. "Why do I get the feeling that you two know something I don't?" he asked them suspiciously.

"That's because we do," Gail answered pertly. "I had an idea way back in Romania about something you could do for Heaven, going forward. Once Lucifer was gone, I knew we would have a lot of free time on our hands. I didn't really think about all this election stuff, but I don't see any reason you can't do both. Anyway, I may have talked to Bobby on Angel Radio without your knowledge, and he may have set up the place we're talking about now."

"Well, you certainly have me intrigued," Cas said, raising an eyebrow.

"Follow me, then," Bobby said. He led them out of his office and down a few corridors until they came to a door marked "Angel Academy". Bobby opened the door, and the trio walked into a large room that resembled a gymnasium.

"All we have left to do is get the mats, and set up a weapons cabinet," Bobby told Gail as she nodded her approval. "This'll do very nicely," she told their friend. "Thanks, Bobby."

"Care to include me in this conversation?" Cas said dryly.

"You tell him. It was your idea," Bobby said to Gail.

She put her hand lightly on her husband's arm. "Welcome to the official Angel Training Academy," she said to him with a smile. "It occurred to both me and Bobby, and Sam and Dean agreed, that we should probably have more Angels who know how to fight. Not that we're promoting violence or anything, but we should at leat be prepared. So we've established this place. It's a school where Angels who want to learn how to fight can come and learn the proper techniques." She stretched up to kiss Cas on the cheek. "And you're going to be the teacher."

Cas looked at her, astonished. Him?

"Don't look so surprised," Gail said, amused. "Who taught all of us, in the first place? When I saw you in that weapons room in Romania, I started to get the idea then. You're so knowledgeable about that kind of stuff. Why don't we put that knowledge to good use? You can teach the younger generation how to defend themselves, and the best ways to attack, if need be. I know you're not interested in advocating violence, sweetie, and neither am I, believe me. But we can't afford to get caught with our pants down in the future, Cas, like we did with Lucifer. Don't you agree?"

He was overwhelmed. That she would think he was good enough to teach a whole host of Angels..."Wait a minute," Cas said. "What do you mean, 'younger generation'? Just what are you trying to imply?"

Gail grinned. "I just threw that in there to see if you were listening. So, what do you think, sweetie? Isn't it a great idea?"

Cas nodded slowly. "You know what? It truly is," he agreed. "Lucifer may be gone, but Gabriel has advised that Raguel is out there on the Earth somewhere, and he is up to no good. Plus, who knows what Crowley might decide to do in the future? We are no longer allies, and his domain has been revitalized now." He frowned. "If we'd had an army of Angels, Lucifer's death squads would not have been able to run rampant on the Earth. We should be more prepared, going forward." He looked at Bobby. "So, you set this up?"

"Yeah, Cas," he told his friend. "When the boys and I and Gail were out there together fighting those death squads, we had a lot of time to talk about it, and we all agreed this was a smart idea. We only disagreed on one thing: I think the Academy should be mandatory, but Gail disagrees. We finally decided that the final say should be up to you, if you decide to take the job."

Cas was thoughtful. He could see both sides of the argument. He thought he knew where Bobby was coming from. Many Angels had grown complacent, and training was not easy. It was like the military on Earth; if there was a chance that they could be called into battle, why would the Angels want to risk their lives? They had it soft now. They could just sit back and have others do it for them. But that wasn't really fair, was it? And, as was made plain in the year of the death squads, the forces of Good needed the numbers.

But, on the other hand, Cas was sure he knew what Gail's thought process was, too. It was a viewpoint he would have considered very carefully, had he been in on the ground floor of this whole idea. In a way, he could see why all of this had been done without his knowledge. His self-confidence issues would probably have led him to refuse. He was no teacher. Yes, he had shown a few Angels a few moves in the training room at the bunker, but Sam and Dean had been there, and Frank and Jody, too. He'd had lots of help. But now that this place had actually been realized, Cas could see himself here, instructing Angels how to fight. Pairing them up, going through various techniques with them. Males and females alike. Everyone would be welcome. However: "No, Bobby, I don't think it should be mandatory," Cas said soberly. "While I think I know why you suggested it, I want students, not soldiers. That's what we were in the old days, but I don't want it to BE like the old days. Making the Academy mandatory smacks too much of conscription, and I want no part of that. If ever the situation comes up where the Angels must fight, I want it to be their choice. I want them to want to fight, because it's the right thing to do. That's what Free Will is supposed to be all about. Many times in the past, I felt forced to fight, and the cause was not clear. That is probably why I have such a problem with violence now. Blindly following orders, anyone's, is a slippery slope. I hated that. Everyone should have the right to make up their own minds."

Bobby frowned. "That's all very well and good, Cas. But what if there was an imminent threat? Let's just say, hypothetically, that Lucifer was still out there. And let's say you posed the question to all your recruits: would they go down to Earth and put their lives on the line for Heaven? What if they said No, they didn't wanna? What would you do then?"

Cas's forehead wrinkled. Truthfully, the thought had never occurred to him. If you were trained properly how to fight, and a threat like Lucifer existed, how could you not want to do the right thing, when the opportunity presented itself? How could you not want to fight?

Poor Cas. Gail could see the dilemma he was having. She nudged him gently. "Why don't we just worry about that if and when the time comes?" she said. "I think the first step is just to get a class going, and then you can decide what to do with them once they're trained. Right, sweetie?" Cas nodded, and Gail smiled. "So I guess that means you're taking the job?"

Cas smiled slowly. "Was there ever any doubt?"

"Not really," she said pertly. She shrugged. "Hey, a good idea is a good idea."

Cas started walking around the room, visualizing. Depending on how many Angels signed up, he was picturing where to set up the mats, the best corner for the weapons cabinet..."I'll have to set up a curriculum," he muttered aloud. "A lesson plan. Maybe some kind of grading system. An exam, both practical and physical..."

Gail and Bobby exchanged smiles. Cas, the Professor. Wait till Dean and Sam and Frank heard about this. But Gail thought it was wonderful. She knew he'd be great.

"Oh, and you have an office in the back, here," Bobby said to Cas, bringing him out of his reverie. Bobby walked over to the other side of the gym room and pushed open another door. "I visualized what my gym teacher's office looked like, when we set this up."

"It'll be perfect," Cas enthused. "I can do whatever paperwork I need to do in here, and then we'll do the practical lessons out there."

He put his arm around Gail. "Thank you for thinking of this, my love. I admit I was a little concerned about what my role would be, going forward. Even if I don't win the election - " he looked apologetically at Bobby, but Bobby gave him a momentary glare. Oh. Right. "If I don't win the election, I had no idea how I was going to be of service to Heaven," Cas continued. "This is perfect. Thank you. Both of you."

Then Cas looked down at his wife. "But while I'm doing this, what will you be doing? Unless you want to teach here with me, of course."

"Noooo," she said, shaking her head. "I'm retiring from training. I was always better with my brain, and my mouth." She pointed a finger at both men. "No jokes allowed. Anyway, I'm going back to the board. We're going to have to determine how a lot of the laws we wrote are going to be implemented. I don't care what Patricia thinks she's going to do, those laws are officially in the books. So we've got a bunch of things like the Suicide Committee we still have to iron out. Once the election is over and we have a sitting God again, there's going to be a flood of people coming in from the Garden. We're going to have to figure out how to adjudicate the suicides, once they're sorted." Then she frowned. "That came out really harsh. But you guys know what I mean. Anyway, I want to reconvene the board to see if anybody's got any new ideas, as well. I'm going to proceed on the premise that one of you is going to be God. Just like we want to prepare the Angels by teaching them how to fight, I want to have the new statutes ready to roll for God's seal when that happens."

"What about you?" Bobby asked her. "You didn't say anything about you being God."

She made a face. "Let's be realistic. I really don't think that's going to happen."

"Don't be so sure," Bobby contradicted her gently. "When I was doing my polling, I discovered that there's also a faction of younger, more progressive Angels who seem really open to the idea of having a female God."

Gail's eyebrows rose. "Really?"

"You might be surprised," Bobby replied. "So it's up to you, but I wouldn't remove your hat from the ring yet, if I were you."

"Huh," Gail remarked, bemused. Who would have thought it? Maybe Heaven wasn't so backward, after all. But if that was the case, maybe she'd better not withdraw her name just yet. If there were a fair amount of Angels who might want a female, Gail had better start campaigning, to make sure that their votes didn't go to Patricia.

"Anyway, Laurel made up a bunch of flyers advertising the new Academy," Bobby told the couple now. "Maybe the two of you want to distribute those, and then set up your campaign teams."

"We can't thank you enough, Bobby," Gail said, smiling warmly at their friend.

"Yeah, yeah," he said grumpily, but his beard was twitching. "But from now on, we're rivals, so don't go looking for any campaign secrets from me. What you tell each other is your own business."

"We don't have any secrets from each other," Cas said, drawing Gail to him and kissing her on the lips.

"Politics might make strange bedfellows, but I'm sure we'll have plenty of other things to talk about when we find ourselves in that situation," Gail added. She touched Cas's face, and he put his hand over hers, smiling.

Bobby rolled his eyes. "And there's my cue to leave. I'll see you lovebirds later." He winked out of Cas's office.

"I'm glad we can still make him uncomfortable, after all these years," Gail quipped.

Cas leaned against his desk, pulling her to him. "He called us lovebirds, so I guess we should live up to the name," he said, kissing her on the mouth.

Gail smiled. "You know, I can picture you sitting at this desk, drawing up lesson plans. Maybe we'll get you a pair of glasses that you can wear while you're doing it."

Cas's forehead wrinkled. "Now, why on earth would I need glasses? I'm an Angel. My vision cannot deteriorate."

"Because it would be sexy," Gail said, nuzzling his cheek.

"It would?" Cas said, puzzled. "Why?"

She gave him a half-shrug. "I don't know, really. I guess it would be a Clark Kent/Superman kind of thing. You know, you'd be in here in a shirt and tie, wearing glasses, being all intelligent, and then you'd get out there and get physical. Take the glasses and tie off, and show your students how to fight. Maybe you'd get all sweaty, so you'd have to take your shirt off, and...what were we talking about?" She fanned herself with her hand, smiling.

Cas's eyebrow raised. "I'm not really sure. You were going off on some kind of tangent."

Gail leaned her body into his, kissing him on the lips. "I might have to sign up for some classes. Then you could give me some private lessons, after the school was closed for the day. Maybe I wouldn't do so well on my exam, because I was so distracted by my huge crush on the teacher. You would sit me down in here and admonish me for my poor grades, and I would tell you I needed more one-on-one time out there. So then we would go out to the gym, and you would take your shirt off and pin me down on the mat. I'd be laying there, helpless, underneath you. I wonder what we'd do then," she said teasingly.

"You would tell me to let you up, and we would try again," Cas replied calmly.

"Wrong answer," Gail said softly.

Cas smiled. He hadn't been oblivious to what she'd been talking about, of course. He had just wanted to tease her a bit in return. "I want to change my answer, then," he told his wife. He tightened his arms around her and kissed her on the mouth once more. "Is that a better answer?"

"Now we're getting somewhere," she said, smiling. "Care to go for extra credit?"

This time when he kissed her, his tongue pried her lips open, and the two Angels sighed contentedly. Cas pressed her body to his as they continued to kiss. He was thinking now about what she'd said, about him pinning her to the mat, picturing himself kissing her like this, then slowly starting to remove her clothing, and...

"Knock, knock," Riley said. The couple looked up, startled. The young Angel stood in the doorway of the office, looking awkward. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he went on. "I mean, I can tell that I was interrupting something, but I'd heard you guys were back, and I was really anxious to talk to you. I haven't seen you since the funeral, and then, everybody was so sad. But then I heard you came here with Gabriel, and I wondered what that was all about, but then before I could find you, you were gone. But then, Bobby was back, and he told us that you brought Dean back to life! I wanted to tell you how happy I was about that, and how excited I am about the Academy, and to offer you my services. Whatever you need, Sir. I mean, Castiel. I mean, Cas."

"Oh my God, Riley, take a breath," Gail said, smirking. She went to move away from her husband. He spun her around so that she could look at Riley, but he kept her standing in front of him. "Maybe you'd better just stay there for a moment, until I...collect myself," Cas said into her ear, and she smiled mischievously. Oh. Right. Darn Riley, and his timing. But it was just as well. She'd been about one more step away from suggesting that they pop back to their house on Earth and act out the scenario she'd been describing here, in the privacy of their own bedroom. And, not that that wouldn't have been glorious, but they had just gotten here. Bobby had just been upbraiding them about not spending any time in Heaven, so she supposed they should really hang around for a bit. Maybe she would talk to Cas about getting an apartment here in Heaven, in addition to their place on Earth. That way, if they were here for an extended period of time, at least they would have someplace private to go.

"I'm sorry. Do you want me to leave?" Riley asked the couple.

Yes, Cas thought. "No, Riley, it's all right," he told the young Angel. "Thank you for your kind words. And yes, there are a couple of things you can help me with." He sighed, gently pushing Gail away. "We're supposed to go and see Laurel about some flyers she's got, advertising the Academy. Can you help us distribute those? It'll go faster that way."

"Oh. Sure." Riley's face fell. He'd been hoping for something less menial, but if that's what Castiel needed him to do, he would gladly do it.

"And after that's done, you and I can talk about your new role here at the Academy, as my Teacher's Assistant," Cas continued. Riley's face broke into a grin. "Really? You mean it?" he asked Cas excitedly.

"I truly do," Cas responded. "I'll need help setting everything up and making up lesson plans. You can advise me on what you found most helpful when I was training YOU, and what else you'd like them to learn."

"I'd love to do that!" Riley enthused. "Anything you need, Cas, just ask. I'm your man."

"Maybe you can help with Cas's campaign, too," Gail suggested. "We should probably get going on that as soon as possible."

"I've got a ton of good ideas for that," Riley said eagerly. "If you'll let me, I'll put together a staff for you. We'll remind the Angels about how much of a hero you are, Cas. How you eliminated Lucifer, at great personal risk, to make sure that we were all safe. How you wouldn't hesitate to draw your blade and go into battle - "

"Maybe we want to de-emphasize the violence aspect a little, but I like the approach," Gail said to the young Angel. "By all means, let's remind everyone of what a hero Cas is."

But Riley was frowning slightly now. "Aren't you running, too?" he asked her.

Gail smiled. "Yes, but the two aren't mutually exclusive. Anything you can do to promote my husband's candidacy is all right with me."

"My wife is very understanding," Cas said with a gentle smile. He felt safe enough to come out from behind her now, but he took her by the hand, giving it a brief squeeze of appreciation. "But I have to warn you, Riley, any time that anybody asks me about that day, I will be sure to remind them that my darling Gail was there as well. And her role was just as pivotal, and she was just as heroic as I was."

Gail squeezed his hand in return. "Thank you, sweetie. Now, let's go get those flyers." She looked at the two other Angels. "You know what? I have the feeling that this is going to be a lot of fun."

"Cas! Gail! It's good to see you," Laurel told the couple. She was standing at the reception desk outside the High Office.

As they drew nearer, though, Gail was alarmed to see that Laurel was standing because she had a box on the surface of the desk, and she was packing things into it. Laurel saw Gail's expression, and she smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm only temporarily relocating," Laurel told them. "Or at least, I hope so. Actually, I'm glad you're both here together, because I wanted to tell you in person: I'm going to work for Bobby, on his campaign. I hope that won't upset either of you. I consider you both my friends, and I hope you feel the same way. But he asked me if I would help him out, and I couldn't say no. He's the best boss I've ever had, if that's not blasphemy. He's like a father to me, actually. No pun intended." She smiled. "So I'll be moving over to be his assistant until the election's over, and then...well, we'll see."

"I think I can speak for both of us when I say that it doesn't upset us at all," Cas told Laurel. "We know you and Bobby have a special relationship. We had a talk with him earlier, and we all decided that our campaigns and our friendship are two separate things. We're not going to let one affect the other."

"I'm very glad to hear that," Laurel said. Then she lowered her voice. "I don't think Patricia feels the same way, though. I'm afraid she may be taking it personally."

"We can't worry about that, and nor should you," Cas said to her. "Everyone should feel free to side with whomever they wish."

Riley was standing behind Cas, and when he heard that, he put his hand to his head. Oh, man. He and Castiel were going to have to have a chat about that, if Riley could work up the nerve to bring it up. If you were running for office, you shouldn't go around saying things like that. He knew Cas was just being magnanimous, which was one of the many qualities that made him a great leader. But he shouldn't be so humble. He should be telling people why they should vote for him. That was certainly what Patricia had been doing. Bobby, too.

"Hey, Laurel, do you think you could - " Chuck said as he entered the reception area. He stopped short. "Oh, hi, you guys. I didn't know you were here."

"And you call yourself a Prophet," Gail quipped, and Chuck gave her a hug, and a smile. "I just came here to ask you, Laurel, if you think you can run off some more copies of the election rules, so we can post them in the hallways," Chuck said.

"Sure, Chuck," Laurel said affably. "Oh, that reminds me: I've got the flyers for the Academy here. Bobby said you'd be dropping by to get them." She opened up a cabinet behind the reception desk. There were stacks of flyers there. "Can one of you men take them out for me?" Laurel asked. "The piles are pretty heavy. Bobby said to make a lot, because let's face it, we have a lot of corridors, here."

Cas moved forward automatically, but Chuck rushed past him. As Gail watched, bemused, Chuck smiled at Laurel. "I got this," he told her.

As Chuck struggled to lift the piles of flyers, Gail's lips were twitching furiously. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on here. Chuck had a crush.

Laurel put her hand on Chuck's arm. "Thanks for the help, Chuck," she said warmly. Then she squeezed his bicep. "Look at that; your arm is shaking," Laurel remarked. "Maybe you'd better sign up for Cas's class."

Gail was biting the insides of her cheeks now. It would be pretty mean to laugh at this point, but it was hard not to. Chuck looked down at his arm. His muscles were indeed quivering. Maybe he'd been spending too much time in the library.

But then, a surprising thing happened: Laurel gave Chuck a kiss on the cheek. "I'm only teasing you, Chuck, you know that, right?" Laurel said.

Chuck's face lit up. "Yeah, I know that, Laurel. Good one," he said.

"Now, give two big stacks of those to Cas and Riley, and a small stack to Gail, and then you can take that box over to Bobby's office for me," Laurel instructed Chuck. She looked at Cas and Gail. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you very soon." Then she walked away.

Gail watched Chuck watching Laurel leave, and he was smiling. "Ma'am, yes, Ma'am," he said softly.

A moment passed, and still, Chuck was staring off into space. "Ummm...Chuck? Flyers?" Gail teased him. "Yoo hoo! Heaven to Chuck!"

The Prophet snapped out of it. "Oh, right. Sorry," he said, moving over to the stacks of flyers. He gave a pile each to Cas and Riley, then brought Gail a smaller stack. "So, Laurel, eh?" Gail said to him slyly.

Chuck grinned sheepishly. "I like her, Gail. But do you want to hear something really weird? I think she likes me, too."

"I don't think that's weird at all, Chuck. I think it's wonderful," Gail said.

"She's a little tough on me, though," Chuck added.

"Well then, that makes me like her even more," Gail said, nodding her approval. She smiled at her friend. "We're going to go put these up. See you soon, Chuck."

The three of them started popping in and out, attaching the flyers to walls and bulletin boards around Heaven, then winking back to get some more.

Gail had distributed two stacks already, and she and Cas popped back to Laurel's old desk at the same moment. They smiled at each other.

"Must we do everything together?" Gail teased him.

"I sincerely hope so," Cas remarked, his lips twitching. He reached for her, but she was distracted. "I've been thinking," Gail told him. "Everybody else has an office, and at least one person working on their campaign, but I have neither."

Cas thought about that for a moment. "Actually, I have an idea about one of those things," he told her. A beat, then: "I just let Riley know where we were going," Cas continued. "Come with me." He grabbed Gail's hand, and led her through the reception area around the corner.

"This is the Executive Wing," Cas told his wife. "I think one of these should do very nicely. In fact..." He led her to a large corner office. "This one was Metatron's. I think it would make a statement if you took it over, now."

Gail looked at her husband. Interesting. She supposed he was right. She opened the door and they walked in. The office was quite large, with the standard desk, tow chairs in front, bookshelves, and a credenza. But it also had what looked like an informal meeting area on the other side of the room, with a couple of sofas and tables. Surprising, really. Metatron had hardly been the "meet and greet" type, she thought to herself. But whoever had designed this office obviously had an idea of what an executive's office was supposed to look like. If this place had been on Earth, it would have big windows, and a killer view.

"What, no wet bar?" she quipped.

Cas smiled. "It is pretty large, isn't it? But, I think it befits an Angel of your stature."

Gail approached her husband, kissing him on the cheek. "My stature? The only stature I have is when I stand beside you," she told him softly. "But, I think I actually will take it." Then she frowned. "I wonder if it would be too controversial if I put up a plaque of some sort here, commemorating him. He did save my life on that battleground, Cas. And he told us about the modification. That was a huge deal for us. He could have just let us go on thinking that all of those terrible things had happened, but he didn't. In the end, he did the right thing."

They were both silent for a minute as they contemplated that. It was true, and its significance to the two of them could not be overstated. No one else really knew how that felt for them, because none of the people they knew had been there with them in that horrifying headspace. Gail was right. Metatron could have just left things status quo. Thank God he had told them before they'd all gone to Madagascar; otherwise, they would never have known the truth.

"I don't care if it is controversial," Cas said, kissing her tenderly on the lips. "If that's what you think the right thing is to do, then that's what should be done."

"Maybe we should make THAT a laminated card, too," she quipped. "We could do one a month. Make a calendar out of them."

"You know that whatever you want is what shall be done," Cas said, his lips curling into a smile.

Gail moved her body closer to his. "Really? Well, on that note, remember the discussion we were having in your office earlier?"

"Oh yes, the discussion about your needing some extra training," Cas replied. He wound his arms around her. "I think that will have to be arranged, as soon as possible."

"Knock, knock," Riley said.

Gail looked at her husband, sighing. "I think the very first order of business we should attend to is getting locks for our office doors," she told him pointedly.

"I agree," Cas said lightly. He kissed her on the forehead and then moved away from her, to avoid a repeat of what had happened earlier when Riley had barged in on them.

"Sorry," Riley said sheepishly. And he sort of was, but he sort of wasn't, either. Geez, if he had to wait until those two stopped kissing to get a word in with Castiel, the election would be over. "I took the liberty of getting a few Angels together who want to work on your campaign, Cas," Riley told his mentor. "I set up a campaign office, and I thought maybe you could come. They're all very excited about meeting you. But if there's anybody you don't like, you just have to let me know and I'll get rid of them. I think you'll like everyone, though. We all share the same core values."

And what core values were those, exactly? Gail thought, bemused. But she had to hand it to Riley; he was very on top of things. Too bad she didn't have anyone like that working for her.

"Oh, and I've got some campaign posters ready to go, too," Riley said. "Tell me what you think." He held one up. It was a depiction of Cas with a huge halo around his head, in a robe, holding a sword in one hand and a Bible in the other. One of his sandaled feet was on Lucifer's neck, and the Devil was holding his hands up in supplication.

"Wow," Gail said. She came forward to look at the poster more closely. "I love it. Maybe make the eyes a bit bluer, and put some big wings on him, at the back. But otherwise, I think you've got a winner. Very Biblical. Very Godlike."

"Exactly," Riley said proudly. "I thought so, too. I got the idea of the robes from Africa, and the sandals from Jesus, of course. I was going to have him stabbing Lucifer to death, but I remembered what you said about de-emphasizing the violence. The implication is clearly there though, don't you think? What do YOU think, Cas?"

Cas was flabbergasted. He had no idea what to say. Riley was making him look like..."That's not me," he mumbled.

"Sure it is," Riley said heartily. "Of course it is. This depicts you as the hero you are, Cas. This is what people need to see." He looked at Gail. "Good points about the eye colour and the wings, though. I'll get the design team on that, right away."

Gail was smiling. Whatever had happened to the nervous, awkward young Angel who had knocked on the bunker door just a couple of short years ago? He was turning hero worship into an art form. But, even though the posters were a bit cheesy, the imagery was powerful. She couldn't deny it. These were bound to have an effect on many of the Angels, and with her suggested changes, they'd be even better. Too bad they couldn't arrange to make some more, with Cas shirtless this time. What had gotten into her lately? She'd known the Academy was going to be a good idea, but if she'd been aware that it was going to have this kind of an additional benefit, she would have suggested it ages ago. She'd better cool herself down, though. This was neither the time nor the place. At least, not until they got rid of Riley and put a lock on that door, she thought, grinning inwardly. But she was going to have to make a mental note to herself to liberate one of those posters and smuggle it down to the bunker. Sam and Dean and Frank would never forgive her if she didn't. Lord only knew what they would do to it, though. She indulged herself for a minute, thinking of different, highly inappropriate things the Winchesters could photoshop Cas holding instead. Yikes.

"Well, it looks like you guys have an appointment to keep, then," Gail said. She gave Cas a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later. I'm going to hang up a few more flyers and think about what to do about my own campaign. Here, Riley, give me those posters. I'll start putting them up, too. The sooner, the better."

Cas was looking at his wife with sympathy now. His poor, wonderful darling. She was doing all of this for him, but what about her own campaign? Who was helping her?

Gail saw the look in his eyes, and she touched his face. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," she told him. "I'll think of something. Now, get going. I'll meet you back here later, once you're done. As soon as I finish putting up the stuff, I'm going to come back here and start putting some ideas down on paper. That always helps me think better. And considering that this is Metatron's old office, the written word should be very welcome here."

"This is Metatron's old office?" Riley said, shocked. When Gail nodded, he said, "Boy, I don't know if I'd go around advertising that, if I were you."

"Why?" she asked him sharply. "What difference does it make?"

"I don't know. It just does," Riley said in a more subdued voice. "Perception is key."

Gail rolled her eyes. What did that even mean? Riley was going to have one hell of a future in Marketing, after this election was over. "Perception is key", indeed. She took a deep breath, then let it out.

"I'll see you later, then," she said to Cas. Then she grabbed the posters from Riley and winked out.

Gail was just putting up the last of the posters in yet another inexplicable coffee room when she heard a voice behind her: "Gail? Is that you?"

She turned around to see a female Angel standing in the doorway. She was blonde, taller in stature than Gail, and she was wearing a pretty sundress which was splashed with colour, with a beige cardigan on top.

"Hi," Gail said. Was she supposed to know this woman? But the strange thing was, she did look familiar, for some reason.

"You haven't changed a bit, but I can see from your expression that you don't remember me," the Angel said. "Which I guess is only fair. The last time you and I saw each other, we were both ten years old, and I didn't have my boobs yet." She looked around furtively, then took off the sweater and stuck out her chest. "Didn't they turn out great?"

Gail stared at her, and then she burst out laughing. "Liz?" she asked the woman.

"So you DO remember!" Liz exclaimed, pleased.

"Of course I do. It just took me a minute," Gail said. She moved forward. "And yes, for the record, they did turn out great," she added, her lips twitching.

The two women hugged, and Gail said, "Not that I'm not glad to see you, but what are you doing here? You're way too young to be here."

Liz made a face. "I know, right? And I could say the same thing about you."

Gail nodded. "And you would be right. Hey, are you doing anything right now?"

"Nothing more important than talking to you," Liz replied brightly.

"Good. Let's go to my office, then," Gail said. She looked at her childhood friend, smiling. "It's so good to see you."

"Where's your office?" Liz asked, and Gail reached out and took her friend's hand, winking them both back to her new office.

"Wow," Liz remarked, looking around. "Nice." She walked over to one of the couches and plopped down. Gail came over and sat beside her. "So, what happened?" Gail asked Liz. "Why are you here?"

Liz sighed. "Leukemia," she said. "I was on the waiting list for a bone marrow transplant, but...well, you know. How about you?"

Gail shook her head slowly. "My story's a lot more complicated," she remarked. "I'm so sorry, Liz."

Liz shrugged. "It's OK. I admit, it really sucked, at first. There was so much more I wanted to do with my life."

Gail smiled. "I know. You were going to join Greenpeace, plant a bunch of trees, start a charitable foundation, teach disabled kids, et cetera, et cetera. Boy, you must have been at the head of the line in the Garden. I think maybe YOU should be running for God, or at least for Sainthood. Tell me you got to do at least some of those things."

"I got my teacher's certificate, and I was working at a school for mentally challenged kids when I was diagnosed," Liz told her friend. "My husband and I moved to a small town in upstate New York. You wouldn't believe this place. It was the least likely place you'd expect me to be living. Small town, redneck guys, hanging around in the bar where my husband worked. I'd go in there to see him at night sometimes, and those guys were unbelievable, Gail. I wish you'd been there. They made me laugh so hard. They'd have a few beers, and then say they were going to get into their pickup trucks and 'go get those Ay-rabs'. Can you imagine?"

"Oh, my God! That's terrible!" Gail exclaimed, appalled.

"That's what I thought, too!" Liz said, but she was smiling, and she giggled loudly. "So I would sit there with my glass of wine and ask them how they could say stuff like that. Didn't they care about their fellow man? And, you know what they would say to me? 'Hell, no! Let's nuke 'em all!'" She giggled again.

Gail could just picture it. Anyone else might be disconcerted by the fact that her friend was saying such terrible things, yet laughing about it, but not Gail. She and Liz had first met in grade school, and they had become fast friends. Gail had been a shy, bookish loner, and Liz had come from a poor immigrant family. The other kids had made fun of Liz because the clothes she had to wear were ill-fitting and out of style, and because her parents didn't speak English. Gail, they had left alone, for the most part. There had been nothing particularly remarkable about her to make fun of, so they hadn't bothered with her. But it had made Gail angry to see the way they'd taunted Liz, so she had made it a point to seek out the girl and talk to her. Soon, they became best friends. Liz was a friendly, open person who'd also been mature beyond her years. She and Gail would sit together in class and have lunch together, and they would talk about what they wanted to do when they grew up.

Well, it seemed that neither one of them had gotten to do that; at least, not in the way that they had thought. But, even though Gail felt badly for Liz that she hadn't gotten to live a full life on Earth, she was overjoyed to see her old friend here now.

Liz was still laughing about the rednecks. "They called me a dolphin-kissing, tree-hugging, Femi-Nazi," she told Gail delightedly. "Then, Jerry - that's my husband - told them I was a vegetarian, too, and I thought they were all going to have heart attacks."

Now Gail was laughing, too. Liz had always had a bubbly, effervescent personality, and an infectious laugh. Only she could find those kinds of things funny. "Wouldn't that have been a shame," Gail said with a wicked grin, prompting another burst of giggles from Liz.

"Well, if they did, it's a pretty safe bet we wouldn't see any of those guys here," Liz commented. She smiled at her friend. "But, let's talk about you. I've been dying to see you, ever since I found out you were MY Gail. Everybody here talks about you and Castiel like you're not even real. Is it true you're running to be God, too?"

"Yeah, but I don't expect to win, or anything," Gail told her. "That's complicated, too. I'm mainly just trying to make sure that Patricia doesn't win. I'm sorry; I hope you're not rooting for her."

"Are you kidding?" Liz said incredulously. "You know me. Do you think I'd go for somebody like her? SHE'S the Nazi, as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, I came looking for you for a couple of reasons: first, because I was hoping we could be friends again, and second, 'cause if it was true and you were running for the Office, I wanted to help your campaign."

Gail was touched. Liz's offer couldn't have come at a better time. And she was thrilled to see her best friend again. The only friend she'd ever had growing up, really.

"Hey, do you remember that time I fell off the monkey bars and split my head open?" Liz asked Gail now, abruptly changing gears.

"How could I forget?" Gail responded. "That was the first time I found out that I had my healing powers. I'm not sure who was more freaked out, me, or you!"

Liz smiled warmly at her friend. The two girls had been playing in the school playground at recess. It had been just the two of them. She couldn't remember how young they'd been, exactly, but even then, they'd been shunned by the other kids. Liz had climbed higher than she'd ever climbed on the monkey bars. She had looked down to the ground to get Gail's attention, and then she had lost her grip. She fell to the sandy pit below, but on her way, she'd hit her head on the metal, opening up a cut on her forehead. She'd been too stunned to cry, but Gail had rushed over to her friend, horrified at the sight of the blood coming from her friend's wound. Panicked, Gail had put both of her hands on Liz's head where the wound was. Suddenly, there was a momentary glow, and the cut was healed.

"Holy Moly," little Gail had breathed.

"What?" Liz had asked. "Is it bad?" Her hands went to her head, and when they'd come away clean, she'd looked at Gail with wide eyes. "What happened? What did you do?"

"I don't know," Gail had said in a small voice. "You had a big cut on your forehead, and now, you don't."

"Did you do that?" Liz had asked her.

"I guess so," Gail had replied dazedly.

Then, Liz had smiled. "That's great! When did you learn how to do that?"

"I don't know," Gail said, mystified. "I've never done it before."

Liz had looked down at herself then, "Look at all this blood on my clothes. My mom is going to kill me."

Gail had made a face. She wished she could help her friend out with that, too. She knew how poor Liz's family was, and now, her clothes were ruined. Or, were they?

"You were so kind to me," Angel Liz said to Angel Gail now. "You took me to your house and begged your mom to wash my clothes for me. She had to do it three times, but the blood finally came out."

"You were my best friend," Gail said to her. "What else could I do? And then, we made a pinky swear not to tell anybody what I had done, because we knew it wasn't normal."

"But your mom knew, didn't she?" Liz said. "She wasn't even surprised."

"Yeah, she knew," Gail said, sighing. "Anyway, it's kind of funny: now that I'm an Angel, I have the power of healing. But so do you, and so does everyone here. I have a bonus power or two now, though. I could have cleaned your clothes, too. Once again, it's a long story. We'll have to get caught up."

Liz opened her mouth to tell Gail what else she'd seen that day in the playground, but before she could speak, Cas came breezing into the office, carrying a bouquet of roses. He stopped still.

"Hi, sweetie," Gail said, getting to her feet. "You're not going to believe it. This is my friend from grade school, Liz. She's the best friend I ever had, growing up. The only friend, really."

"Me, too," Liz said. She also rose to her feet as Gail approached her husband. Liz stared at Cas. Holy freholes. He was gorgeous! This was the famous Castiel?

"I thought these would brighten up your new office," Cas said, handing Gail the flowers.

"That's so sweet," she told him. She took the flowers, smelling them. She'd always loved the sweet fragrance of Cas's flowers.

"I'll get you a vase from one of the coffee rooms," Cas offered, smiling. "You'll want to keep it around here, somewhere. I have the feeling you'll be getting fresh flowers quite often. But, first..." He approached Liz, holding out his hand. "Hi, I'm Cas," he said to her.

Oh my God, Liz thought. Cas, yet. Everyone here talked about Castiel as if he were a legendary, larger-than-life figure, who might only exist in Greek mythology, or something. Granted, he was very handsome, and it looked like he had a great body, too. Oops, she meant "vessel", she supposed. He was wearing a blue shirt, black blazer, and blue jeans, and he seemed like a very down to earth guy.

"Hi, Cas," Liz said, shaking his hand. Then she giggled, and Cas looked a little disconcerted. "Sorry. I do that from time to time, especially when I'm nervous," Liz told him.

Cas's forehead wrinkled. "Why should you be nervous?" he asked her.

"Because everybody talks about you like you're already God," Liz replied.

Cas smiled, and Liz's knees went a little wobbly. Wow.

"That's funny. That's the same thing they were saying at my campaign office," Cas said mildly. He looked at Gail. "Riley's got a whole bunch of them there, working around the clock. You should see him. Give him a job to do and he's like a whole different person. I told him I didn't think my presence was even needed." He put his arm around his wife's waist, grinning. "Oh, and by the way, he's implementing your changes for the poster. I'm a little embarrassed about it, but I have to admit, the posters are striking."

"It's not the posters, it's their subject matter," she said, smiling warmly.

"I'll be right back with your vase," Cas said, and he promptly winked out.

Gail looked at the astonished expression on Liz's face, and she burst out laughing. "I know, right?" Gail said. "That's how I feel, every time I look at him. But I'll tell you what; he's just as gorgeous on the inside."

"I may have to switch campaigns," Liz quipped, and both of the women laughed.

Cas popped back into the office with a vase that was filled three-quarters full with water. He put it down on Gail's desk, then reached out his arms for the flowers. "Here, I'll do it," Cas told his wife. "Please, continue your visit. I'm so glad the two of you were able to be reunited. How old were you when you were friends?"

The women took turns telling him how they'd met, and about the fact that they'd been best friends all throughout grade school. "And then one day, you and Frank were gone," Liz said to Gail. "It was all over the news. We were all so scared. None of us ever knew anybody who'd been murdered before. I slept in my parents' bed for weeks after that, and I cried and cried because you guys were gone, and nobody knew where you were, or if you were even still alive."

Gail sighed. "That's a long story, too. Boy, do I ever have a lot of things to tell you. But you'll be glad to know that Frank is still alive and well, and he's very happy. Actually, Cas and I see him all the time." Then she frowned. "But that's just one reason we can't afford to let Patricia get elected. If she does, she said she won't let us go to Earth any more. We can't let that happen, Liz! Frank's wife is pregnant, and there's no way I'm missing that. I can't wait to laugh at him when he's changing poopy diapers and trying to get the kid not to spit up on him."

Liz snickered. "Remember how we used to torment him, whenever I came over to your house to play?"

Gail laughed. "Oh, man, now we have to get you an assignment to Earth. I can bring you over to his house, and we can torment him all over again!"

Cas was looking back and forth from one woman to the other, and he was smiling happily. It was nice to finally meet someone from Gail's childhood besides Frank who recognized how special she was. "Well, I can guarantee you if I'm elected, you ladies will get your chance," he said. "Just don't tell Frank I had anything to do with it."

They all laughed, and Cas finished arranging the flowers in the vase. "There," he said. "Does that look all right?"

Liz was amazed all over again. The Angel Castiel, fearsome warrior, arranging flowers. Unbelievable.

"It looks perfect," Gail said. "Hey, Liz and I were just about to talk about my campaign. I may not have a whole staff, like you do, but you can help us kick some ideas around, if you're not busy."

"Sure," Cas said, taking his wife's hand. He led her over to one of the couches and sat down beside her. He gestured to Liz. "Please, sit down. What did you have in mind?"

So the three Angels had talked strategy for a while, and then Cas had frowned. "You know, I still think we should extend the olive branch to Patricia first, before we get too carried away," he said to Gail. "All I've been hearing are rumours. I'd like to hear directly from her what her intentions are."

Gail nodded. That was a very reasonable approach. Maybe they were panicking for nothing. She looked at Liz.

Liz got the message. "I'll go back to my cubicle and work on some campaign slogans and stuff," she told them. "I've got some friends I work with; I'm sure I can get some of them on board. They want a female God, but they don't like Patricia." Then Liz looked at Cas sheepishly. "No offense intended, Cas."

He shook his head. "None taken. Gail has encouraged me to be a big believer in equality for women. I think it's high time that there are female candidates for the High Office."

Liz was becoming more and more impressed with Cas by the minute. Not only was he as handsome as anything, and attentive and loving to her friend, but he was obviously very intelligent, and he was enlightened, too. One day, when Liz's husband Jerry got here, she was going to make him follow Cas around with a notepad.

Once Liz left Gail's office, Cas took his wife's hand. "I'm so glad you and Liz have found each other again," he told her.

Gail smiled. "Me, too. She's a wonderful person, Cas. You'll really like her, once you get to know her better."

"I already do, because she's your friend," he said, kissing her gently on the forehead. Then he frowned slightly. "Are you ready to see Patricia now?"

"No," she quipped.

When they got to Patricia's office, Becky was just coming out of it. "Hi, guys," Becky said. "How are you?"

"We're fine, Becky," Cas said. "Is Patricia in? We're here to talk to her about the election."

"Yeah, she's in there. I just finished talking to her," Becky replied. "About work stuff," she added hastily. "I've gotta go. I'll see you both later." She hurried off as Cas and Gail looked at each other. Gail shrugged, and Cas tapped on the door. "Come," Patricia said.

As Cas and Gail were entering Patricia's office, Becky was going back to her own. Her heart had skipped a beat when she'd run into Cas and Gail, right outside. Obviously they hadn't overheard anything that she and Patricia had been talking about, or they would have been freaking out.

When Becky had gotten back to Heaven after Bobby's wake, she had done a lot of thinking. She'd taken Rowena's card out of her pocket when she'd gotten back to her apartment, and she'd just sat there, staring at it. How was she going to pull this off?

And then, she'd had the idea: Bobby was back in Heaven now, wasn't he? So, she'd gone to see Chuck in the library, and Chuck had told here where Bobby's cabin was. Chuck had devised a census program on the library's computer that was designed to keep track of all of Heaven's denizens, including where their offices were, where their homes were located, and other statistics, such as date of arrival. Once he had the opportunity, he was going to pitch the system to whoever ended up being in charge. When Bobby had returned, Chuck got his assignments from Laurel and he'd entered the information into the database. But there had to be a more efficient way to go about it than that. Chuck was pulling long hours working on that, so he'd been there when Becky had come to see him for the information. Chuck had given it to her, since she was part of their little group, but then that was another thing to add to his list of topics for discussion. When did privacy come into play, or, did it? Who would be in charge of disseminating that information? Should they maybe have a public directory, and also a private one? And who would decide which was which?

Becky had left Chuck to puzzle over those issues, and after a moment's hesitation, she had proceeded directly to Bobby's cabin. By that time, it was quite late, by Earth's standards. But none of them slept, time was fluid in Heaven, and Becky didn't want to wait any longer. So she'd gone to Bobby's cabin and knocked on the door.

"Hello, dear," Bobby had said. "Come in." They'd sat down at the table together. "How was my wake?" Bobby had asked her, his beard twitching with amusement.

More interesting than you'd think, Becky had thought. "It was good, Bobby," she'd said out loud. "It was nice to see Dean, alive and well. Everybody missed you, of course."

"Well, that's sorta what happens at a wake," he remarked. Then Bobby looked closer at her face. "Why are you here, Becky?" he said bluntly.

"I need an assignment to Earth," she answered in kind. "I miss everybody, Bobby."

He frowned. "I know who you miss, and it's not going to happen, Becky," Bobby said.

"Why not?" she asked him, frustrated.

"Because if Sam wanted a relationship with you, he would tell you so," Bobby said frankly. "I don't want to hurt your feelings, Becky, but deep down, you've gotta know that. It's best for you to just stay away."

Becky had looked down at the table. She had been hoping that Bobby would go to bat for her. She knew he had a soft spot for her. But he also went way back with the Winchesters, and his loyalties would always be with them. And Cas and Gail would be the same way. That only left her with one option. So she had said goodnight to Bobby, telling him that he was right, and to forget it.

Becky had gone to Patricia's office the next day, pleading her case. "I can be very useful on Earth," she'd said to her boss.

Patricia had looked at Becky coolly. It was all she could do not to roll her eyes. Patricia had known for a long time that Becky was hardly the sharpest knife in the drawer, but did she think that Patricia herself was stupid? She had no use for Becky on Earth; in fact, she had no use for any Angels on Earth. Patricia had made no secret of the fact that if she were elected to the High Office, no Angels would be going to Earth. Period. She reminded Becky of this now.

"But I'm one of the designated Angels!" Becky whined.

"Well, I didn't designate you," Patricia snapped. "You're wasting my time." She had been about to dismiss Becky from her office when it suddenly occurred to her that Becky might be of some use to her, after all. Becky was looking down at her lap now, but her head snapped up when Patricia said, "On second thought, we may be able to work out some kind of arrangement. How close are you to my opponents?"

"Bobby, and Cas and Gail? Very close," Becky said proudly. "I was at Cas and Gail's house for Christmas, and Bobby is like a father to me. I've spent lots of time with them."

Patricia reached for a pad of paper and a pen. Her mind was working furiously now. She didn't know why she hadn't thought of this before. Becky had been here under her nose this whole time.

"How did you meet Castiel and Gail?" Patricia asked the young Angel. "As I recall hearing around the time of the tribunal, it was in Las Vegas, wasn't it?"

Becky brightened. She loved telling that story. Even though she was a little bit mad at Sam right now for liking Gail, Becky had to admit that Cas and Gail's love was for real, and their story was really romantic.

As Becky was blathering on, talking about Castiel and Gail as humans, Patricia was taking notes. Then Patricia asked about Bobby, and Becky began talking about all three of them. Most of what the girl was saying, Patricia already knew, but she took notes anyway, letting Becky babble. Maybe Patricia would make an exception if she were elected, and actually grant Becky's wish. If there was a more annoying, empty-headed girl in existence, Patricia had yet to meet her. Perhaps she'd send Becky down to Earth just to get rid of her.

But then, Becky said something so surprising, so unbelievable, that Patricia halted her. "Castiel is WHAT?" she'd said, astonished.

Becky repeated what she'd just said, and Patricia began to smile. Now, they were getting somewhere.

By the time Cas and Gail had arrived at Patricia's office, she and Becky had finished their conversation. Patricia had been so shocked, yet so pleasantly surprised, by the information that Becky had given her that she had promised the young girl that if she achieved the High Office, she would make an exception, and send Becky to Earth. All Becky would have to do in return would be to let Patricia know if she had any more interesting stories about her friends. The girl had happily agreed. Patricia supposed that she was too stupid to realize that it was dynamite she had just dropped into Patricia's lap.

Patricia was still smiling when Castiel and Gail entered her office. "What a surprise, to see the both of you here," she remarked.

"Well, we thought it was time to start making campaign arrangements," Cas replied.

Patricia nodded. "Bobby visited me a short time ago, too. I was surprised to see him as well, and surprised that he was running. But it's his right, as it is both of yours. Your application forms were all in order. I know; I checked them myself. You just squeaked in under the minimum time for length of service," she continued, looking at Gail. "Perhaps we should have tightened up that criteria," Patricia added, sniffing disdainfully.

Gail restrained herself from rolling her eyes. If Patricia thought she was being subtle, she was sadly mistaken. Cas's jaw clenched, but he said nothing. They had agreed on their way over here that they wouldn't engage in an argument with Patricia. There was nothing to be gained by it.

"You may have heard that I will be teaching at the Academy shortly," Cas said in a calm voice. "And Gail will be resuming her chairmanship on the board. We just thought we would come here and inform you, as a courtesy."

"Fine," Patricia said in a clipped tone. She looked at Gail. "I trust you will not be looking to enact any laws on your board."

Gail's forehead wrinkled. "The laws already have God's seal. We just have to fine-tune them." You should know, she thought. You were there. "You drank champagne with us to toast that fact, remember?"

"How could I forget?" Patricia said archly. "Alcohol, in Heaven. One of the hallmarks of your proposed administration, I am sure. Well, just so YOU know, I have resigned my post on the board. I felt it would be a clear conflict of interest. But I'm sure such things don't concern the both of you, do they? Neither of you feel as if you're bound by convention, or decency."

"Why are you being so insulting?" Cas said angrily. He couldn't help it. What was her problem?

"I don't think I'm being insulting, merely 'telling it like it is'. Don't your humans talk like this, Castiel?" Patricia said, affecting an innocent tone.

Cas opened his mouth again, ready to let her have it with both barrels, but then, the most inconvenient thing happened: his cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the Call Display. "Dean," he told Gail.

Patricia sat back in her chair, smirking. "Well then, by all means, answer it, Castiel. We all know where your priorities truly lie."

Cas answered his phone. "What is it, Dean?" he asked tersely.

"Good news," Dean said happily. "Nicole called. She said she thought about what you said, and she forgives me! Isn't that great? Thanks, buddy!"

"Yes, that's great, Dean," Cas said quickly. "Is there anything else? We're kind of in the middle of something, here."

"Oh," Dean said. "Sorry. Say hi to Mrs. Buzzkill for me. And, Cas? The next time you guys are...well, you know...you don't have to answer the phone. That's what Voice Mail is for."

Cas was uncomfortable. He knew that Patricia had no idea what Dean was saying now, but she was staring at him as if she did. "Dean, I'll need to call you back," he said.

"There's no need for that, Castiel," Patricia said loudly, her lips tightly pursed. "We're done here. Get out, and take your little..." She reined herself in, but just barely. There would be plenty of time for truth-telling later on, when there was an audience of Angels to hear. "Take Gail with you."

"Who's that?" Dean said in Cas's ear? "What's going on?"

Cas was angry again. He was perfectly entitled to take a phone call from his best friend. Who the hell did Patricia think she was? And Cas had no idea what she'd thought she was going to call Gail; he only knew that she was extremely lucky that she hadn't uttered it. "I'll call you back," he said into the phone, and then he hung up on Dean. Then, he faced Patricia. "Gail and I came here to pay a courtesy call, and you've been nothing but rude to us, ever since we got here," he said coldly. "You are not yet God, and if we have our way, you never will be. You are just another Angel, and when you address my wife, you will keep a civil tongue in your head."

"And what if I don't?" Patricia retorted. "Are you going to pull your blade on me? That's your usual response, isn't it?"

"Come on, Cas, let's go," Gail said to her husband. All this was going to do from this moment on was deteriorate. She took Cas's hand and tried to pull him towards the door, but he stood his ground, glaring at Patricia. "We thought of you as our friend," he said to her. "You attended our wedding."

"Yes, where you vowed to obey her," Patricia sneered. "I suggest you do so right now, before I have to have you removed from my office. Go see your precious humans, Castiel. The more time you spend away from Heaven, the better off we all are."

"Let's go, Cas!" Gail urged. She yanked harder this time, and thankfully, he followed her out the door. The two of them stood out in the hallway outside Patricia's office for a minute, and then Gail said, "What did Dean want?"

Cas took a deep breath, then let it out. He told her what Dean had said, and she laughed. Cas raised an eyebrow to her, and she laughed again. "Did Patricia loan you the stick she's got up her bum?" Gail asked him teasingly. "Come on! That's funny!"

He made a face. "Yes, I guess it is. His timing couldn't have been worse, though."

Gail had to admit that he had a point, there. "Let's pop down there for a minute and see our 'precious humans'," she said, imitating Patricia's prissy tone. Cas laughed. She was so cute. "Yes. Let's," he agreed. The Angels linked hands and popped out of Heaven.

Patricia had heard them laughing. They had made no effort to lower their voices. Her hands clenched into fists. How dare they? How dare they strut into her office like they were the King and Queen of the entire universe? Well, they had better laugh, while they still had the chance. They would be crying, very soon.

She grabbed a pencil and dug the pointed end into her arm, ripping open the flesh. Every time she saw the two of them, she saw Lucifer. And every time she saw Lucifer, she felt the overwhelming urge to harm herself. She looked down at her arm. There was a gaping wound in it now. She barely felt those any more, but she had gotten blood all over her blouse and the surface of her desk now. She frowned. She really had to stop doing that. She was a candidate for the High Office. She couldn't afford any appearance of abnormality.

Patricia pushed the button for the intercom on her phone, and her secretary came into the office. Velma gasped. "What happened?" she asked her boss.

"I had an accident," Patricia told her. "Could you please heal me? Then I think I'll go home and rest. I have a splitting headache."

"It's no wonder," Velma said sympathetically. "You've been working so hard lately." She rushed forward, placing her hand on Patricia's arm to heal her wound. Then she happened to look down at the desk and saw the puddle of blood there, with the bloody pencil sitting right beside it. She looked at Patricia inquiringly.

"Well, don't just stand there," her boss said irritably. "Get a rag, and some cleaner. I want that desk spotless when I come in tomorrow morning." Then she sighed. "I'm sorry, Velma. It's just this headache. I'll see you in the morning." She rose to her feet and hurried out of the office. Velma stared at the desk for a moment, and then she went off in search of cleaning supplies.


	4. Only In The Movies

Chapter 4 - Only In The Movies

"Hey, Cas, why'd you hang up on me?" Dean asked his friend. Cas and Gail had popped directly down to the bunker from Heaven. It was morning at the bunker now, and Sam and Dean were sitting at the kitchen table, having coffee.

Cas explained to Dean what he had interrupted as Gail plopped down at the table. "Boy, Gabriel was right," Gail groused. "She really DOES need a good snuggle."

Sam laughed. "I still don't understand what her problem is," he said to the Angels. "What's she got against you guys?"

Cas sighed. Sam had already taken the seat beside Gail, so Cas sat beside Dean. "I wish I knew, Sam," he remarked. "Apparently, she thinks we're too permissive."

"And we're 'human-lovers', too," Gail added, rolling her eyes.

"Shhh, Cas wasn't supposed to find out about us," Dean joked, smirking.

"Go ahead, laugh it up," she said, making a face. "If Ms. Tight-Ass wins, you guys may never see us again."

Dean frowned momentarily. Then his expression brightened. "But hey, glass half-full. Nicole invited us all to the movie premiere in Hollywood this weekend. Unless you guys are too busy to go..."

Cas was conflicted. They probably shouldn't. They hadn't even been in Heaven a full day. Wouldn't they only be proving Patricia's point if they went away again? But a large part of him really wanted to see the movie. He was extremely curious about how it would look on the big screen, and also how it would be received by the public.

Gail was already shaking her head. "No, we're not too busy. There's no way we're missing that."

"Great," Dean enthused. "So, if you guys wanna go home and pack a bag, you can zap us over there in...what? About half an hour?"

"Now?" Cas asked him, puzzled. "I thought you said the premiere was this weekend."

"Yeah, but I figured we'd spend a couple of days doing some sightseeing, first," Dean told him. "How long's it been since just the four of us were on holidays together? Ages."

Cas was frowning. "I don't know, Dean. We've got duties in Heaven."

"Aaaah, duties," Dean scoffed. "Come on, Cas, don't be a dick. Remember how much you missed me when I was dead? Besides, Nicole's gonna be there this afternoon."

Gail shook her head slowly, open-mouthed. "Wow. I can't believe how low you'll sink to get what you want," she said to Dean.

He shrugged, taking a sip of coffee. "Hey, I blame you. That's what you get for doing dark magic. Blackmail." He nudged Cas. "Let's go, Cas. Chop chop."

Cas started to smile. "All right, Dean. We'll meet you back here in an hour, then."

"An hour?" Dean complained. "Why so long?"

Cas looked at Gail. "There's something that Gail and I were discussing earlier that we have to get done before we can leave," he said, his lips twitching. "Isn't that right, my love?"

She caught his meaning. "That's right," she said to the brothers. "Confidential Heaven business."

"Yeah, OK. Whatever. Hurry back," Dean said.

Cas rose from his chair and met Gail halfway, coming around the table from the other direction. They linked hands and then winked over to their house.

A very hot and sweaty half an hour later, they were trying to catch their breath. Gail was laying with her head on Cas's chest, smiling. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again," she said to her husband. "I think you could teach a class on how to do THAT."

Cas was smiling, too. He gave her a squeeze. "And, as I believe I've said before, you would have to be the only student in the class, then."

"I fail to see a problem with that," she said pertly. "Screw everybody else. We'll just lock the doors and make it a private school." She started to kiss his chest.

"Don't start that, or I'll have to call Dean and tell him that we need more time," Cas said, caressing her.

"Screw him, too," she said airily. "He's got his nerve, using emotional blackmail on us like that."

"It worked, though, didn't it?" Cas remarked.

She sighed. "Yeah. It did. Okay, I'd better get in the shower, then. I have to admit, I'm really glad Nicole forgave him. You must have worked your usual magic on her."

Cas smiled again. "When you love someone, forgiveness is easy."

"Oh, believe me, I'm aware," she said mischievously.

"I thought you said you were going to have your shower," Cas said, lifting an eyebrow. She looked up at him, smiling. Boy, did she love that eyebrow. Damn Dean and his damn blackmail. She could spend the next two hours in bed with her husband based on that eyebrow raise alone. She sighed heavily. "I am." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then got out of bed before she could change her mind.

While his wife was in the shower, Cas sent a message to Riley over Angel Radio, advising that he and Gail would be gone from Heaven until after the weekend.

"But you just got back," Riley protested. "And I've already received a bunch of applications for the Academy. People have been dropping them off here at your campaign office."

"Oh? How many?" Cas asked curiously.

"About 20," Riley replied. "Maybe even 25."

"That many, already?" Cas said, surprised.

"We've been spreading the word," Riley said proudly. "We might have to put a cap on it soon. What number did you have in mind?"

Cas was at a loss. He had no idea. He'd been wondering if they would get anyone wanting to sign up at all. Now, he felt a frisson of self-doubt. "What do YOU think, Riley?" he stalled.

Riley was thrilled. Not only was Cas asking his opinion about such an important issue, but he was leaving Riley in charge while he was gone. "I think probably 30, or 35, at the most," he said to Cas now. "Any more than that and it would probably be hard for you to give them enough personal attention."

Cas thought about that. "You're probably right," he said to his assistant, "but I'm hoping you'll be able to help me in the classroom, too. Maybe I'll find out if Ethan can help us as well, once we get going, or if you're too busy to attend."

"Sounds good," Riley agreed. "Can I ask why you're going to be away?"

Cas told him, and Riley smiled. "Oh, well, that's a good reason, then," he said. Then his smile faded. "Maybe we won't tell a lot of people here about that, though," he added. "We'll just say you're on another mission. Patricia's been on her high horse, telling the Angels you always put humans ahead of Heaven."

Cas sighed. "Yes, I know. That's what she said to us, when we went to see her."

"You went to see her? Why?" Riley asked him sharply.

Cas was a little taken aback by his assistant's tone, but he answered Riley's question. "We were trying to be diplomatic with her. But she didn't appear to be interested in diplomacy."

"Do me a favour and stay away from her, as much as you can," Riley said. He may have a case of hero worship for Castiel, but Riley was also a realist. If Castiel and Patricia were in the same room together, all there would be was fireworks, especially if Patricia insulted Gail. Riley had heard what Patricia and her team had been saying about the couple, and it would be guaranteed to make Cas mad. As Castiel's self-appointed campaign manager, Riley wanted the Angels to focus on Cas's heroism, not his temper.

Cas had been just about to make some kind of a retort when Gail came into the bedroom, fresh from her shower. "I'll pack a couple of bags for us while you're showering," she said to her husband. "Do you have any idea what we're going to wear to the premiere? Is it fancy dress?"

Cas smiled. She was excited, he could tell. Truthfully, he was, too. "I've got to go, Riley," he told the young Angel, and then he disconnected. He looked at Gail as he slid out of bed. "It will probably be dressy," Cas mused. "Perhaps Sam and Dean and I should rent tuxedos."

Gail smiled back. If she loved the sight of Cas in a suit, she could just imagine how fantastic he would look in a tuxedo. Now, she was really hoping the premiere was going to be a fancy-dress event. But she'd better talk to Nicole once they got there. Fancy dress for women was sometimes a tricky proposition. She went to the closet and took out their travel bags.

Cas went to his wife and embraced her. "I'm looking forward to our vacation," he told Gail.

"Me too," she said, nodding. She stretched up to kiss him lightly on the lips. "This is a good time for it, too, before we get really busy in Heaven."

Cas's arms tightened around her. He was looking forward to his work at the Academy, but he also felt a sense of foreboding about the election. Hopefully, things wouldn't get too unpleasant. But if their recent visit with Patricia was any indication, that was a false hope, indeed.

But now, it was time to have a little fun with their friends. He gave Gail another kiss, and then headed off to the shower.

Sam had made reservations at a four-star hotel, the same one that Nicole was staying at. He and Dean and their Angel friends were waiting in line in the lobby to check in.

"I looked up a few places we might want to see here, since we have a couple of days before the premiere," Sam was telling them. He smiled. "It was kind of weird doing Internet research on a city without Tommy there."

"We'll have to tell him that, the next time we see him," Cas said.

"Anyway, one thing we could do is go see the Hollywood sign," Sam continued. "I looked up a bit of the history behind it, and it's kind of interesting."

"You're such a nerd," Dean said to his brother. "History. Gimme a break. Only you could find that interesting. And what do you mean, 'go see' the sign? We saw it on our way in. You look up the mountain, and there it is."

"Why do you always have to crap all over everything, Dean?" Sam said, frustrated. "What do you want to do, go to some dark bar?"

Cas and Gail smiled at each other. In a strange way, it made them happy to see the brothers sniping at each other like this. That meant that things were back to normal. There was a time, and it hadn't been too long ago, when all of them would have given anything they owned to be able to argue with Dean again.

"We won't be doing that," Nicole said. She had just entered the lobby and come up behind the group, having spotted them in line.

Dean's face lit up and he put his arm around her waist, pulling her to him. "I thought you weren't going to be here till this afternoon," he said to her.

Nicole smiled. "That was the original plan, but when you guys told me you were all coming today, I went to the airport and got an earlier flight."

"You were that eager to see me?" Dean asked her, and Nicole made a face. "You?" she joked. "Meh. I was just looking forward to seeing some tourist attractions." She looked at Sam. "I think I'd like to see the Hollywood sign."

"Well, good, 'cause we were just talking about that," Dean said quickly. "We can go right after we check in, if you want."

"You were just saying - " Sam started to say, and then he stopped. He got what was going on here. Dean was sucking up to Nicole. He supposed he could let it slide. Sam had been happy for his brother when Nicole had called, telling Dean she had forgiven him. Dean had been walking around on a cloud ever since.

"Sounds good," Nicole said brightly. "Let's all meet down here in, say, half an hour." She looked at Dean. "That's if it's not, you know, too nerdy for you," she teased him. But then she laughed and kissed him on the cheek, and he smiled.

"Hey, Sam, is it true that somebody changed the sign to 'Hollyweed' recently?" Nicole asked Dean's brother. "All of my B.C. friends were joking about that."

"Why?" Cas asked her, curious.

Nicole's lips twitched. "Weed? B.C.?"

But Cas was still puzzled. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."

Gail's lips were twitching now, too. "There are still a few gaps in my husband's education, apparently," she said to Dean's girlfriend.

As they moved up the line, Nicole said, "Do you remember those funny-smelling cigarettes that some of the crew members were smoking?" she asked Cas.

"Oh, yes. Marijuana," Cas said mildly. "I see. It's because one of the slang expressions for marijuana is 'weed'. Correct?"

"Well, look who just caught up," Dean said to Cas. "Attaboy, Captain Obvious."

"You should be nicer to Cas," Nicole admonished him.

"Thank you!" Gail exclaimed. "I've been trying to tell him that for years!"

But Cas was smiling. "I like it when Dean calls me Captain Obvious," he said, looking at his friend warmly.

"You do?" Nicole said incredulously.

"Yes, I do," Cas replied. "It certainly beats the alternative."

They were all silent for a moment as the implication of what Cas had said sunk in. Then Sam turned to Nicole. "And now, you can see why Dean calls Cas Major Buzzkill," Sam said.

That broke the mood, and they all laughed. "Imagine how excited I was when I found out that I was Mrs. Buzzkill," Gail said dryly. "And I don't even get a rank."

"You might be getting quite the jump in rank soon, from what I hear," Nicole said, lowering her voice. "Or YOU might, Cas."

Gail was a little taken aback for a moment. Cas looked at her sheepishly. "I told Nicole that you and I and Bobby are in the running, along with one other female Angel," he told his wife.

"I can't believe it," Nicole remarked, making sure to keep her voice low. "An election for God."

"Yeah, it's too bad humans can't vote," Sam chipped in. "Then we could run around to all the churches and stuff the ballot boxes."

"That's a good one, Sam," Cas said, smiling gently.

They'd gotten to the head of the line by now, and they all checked in, then went up to the 16th Floor, where all of their rooms were. They arranged to meet back in the lobby in 15 minutes' time, to decide what they wanted to do first.

Once they had reassembled in the lobby, Dean said, "Let's go for a drink to celebrate our holiday. Then we can decide what kind of tourist-y stuff we want to do."

Sam sighed. "We may as well; otherwise, we're gonna hear about it all afternoon."

"Just one drink, Lieutenant Buzzkill," Dean said, nudging his brother.

"And the army keeps on growing," Gail said, grinning. She looked at Cas. "I think we'll promote you to General. Then you can be in charge of all of us other Buzzkills. It'll give you some good practice."

They went into the hotel bar and sat down, and Nicole grabbed the drinks menu. "Wow," she marveled. "And I thought the drinks were expensive in Vancouver."

"Allow me," Cas said. "What would you like?"

"Thanks, Cas," Nicole said, telling him what she wanted. "But the next one will be on me."

"You're wasting your time. He doesn't drink," Dean told his girlfriend.

"Well, I do, and I'll take a glass of wine," Gail said to her husband.

"Certainly, my love," Cas said, rising from his chair. He started towards the bar.

"Hey! What about us?" Dean exclaimed.

Cas turned around. "I'm buying drinks for the ladies," he advised Dean calmly. "Men have to buy their own."

Nicole rolled her eyes comically. "I wish all men had that attitude. I'd have a lot more money in my savings account."

"Actually, Dean, you should be buying Nicole her drink," Cas gently admonished his friend.

"OK, number one, you didn't give me the chance to offer. And, number two, your wife is always pleading poverty. Every time she and I go out, it's always the same: 'I don't have any money, Dean. I don't carry a purse, Dean.' The way I see it, you guys owe me about five years' worth of drinks."

Gail poked him. "Hey, I brought you back to life," she said quietly. "The way I see it, you should be elbowing Cas out of the way, and serving it to me on your knees."

Sam and Nicole laughed, and Dean's girlfriend put her hand on his arm. "She's got you, there," Nicole told Dean. She kissed him on the cheek and added, "Actually, by that reasoning, so should I. I'm sorry, Gail. I guess I never really thanked you properly for what you did."

Gail smiled. "There's no need. We like to give him a hard time, but we're all very happy he's here. Give him another smooch from me, will you? And one from Cas, too."

Nicole gave Dean a couple of big, smacking kisses on the cheek. "If you can wait till later tonight, I'm hoping to get a bit more thanks than that," Dean said, smirking. "Gail and Cas can fend for themselves."

"We certainly can," Gail said, smiling warmly at her husband. He was bringing the drinks to the table now. Then he went back to the bar and came right back, bringing a bottle of beer each for Sam and Dean. The brothers smiled. Cas was such a soft touch.

"Here's to Hollywood," Nicole said, raising her glass in a toast. Everyone toasted, except for Cas, of course, who hadn't gotten a drink. "I'm really glad you guys were able to come," Nicole went on. "You're going to love the movie. From everything I've heard, it's epic."

Cas smiled crookedly. "I'm sure it is," he said. He and Gail exchanged glances. They'd gotten a look at some advance script pages for the next installment when they'd gone on their last errand in Vancouver, and what was to come would be even more exciting.

"Have you got a date for the premiere, Sam?" Nicole asked Dean's brother. "I can fix you up with one of the crew girls, if you'd like."

"Why do you think we have to save on drinks? Poor Sammy. Those Hollywood hookers are expensive," Dean quipped.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Very funny. Yeah, Nicole. I asked Quinn if she would come. I was actually going to ask if one of you would mind popping up to get her on Saturday afternoon," he added, looking at the Angels.

"Sure, Sam. But why didn't you ask her to come today?" Gail inquired. "We could have gotten her for you today, if you wanted."

He was thoughtful. "Because I don't think we're there yet, Gail. We've only had a few dates."

"Oh," she said in a subdued voice. "Sorry."

The group chatted for a few more minutes, finishing their drinks. They had decided against the visit to the Hollywood sign, opting instead to just walk around for a while, and look at the sights. Nicole had expressed an interest in seeing the Walk of Fame, so Sam had looked it up on his phone, and they slowly started heading that way.

"Wow, this place should be called 'Hollyweird'," Dean commented, looking at the wild outfits and hairstyles of some of the passers-by.

"They're probably thinking the same thing about us," Sam said, grinning. "I haven't seen one other flannel shirt since we got here."

Gail tapped Sam on the arm. "Hey, even though we're not going up there, I'd like to hear about some of the history of the Hollywood sign," she said to him.

"Actually, so would I," Nicole agreed.

Sam gave Dean a quick smirk. Then he said, "The sign was originally created in 1923. It wasn't supposed to stay there for too long. It originally read 'Hollywoodland', and its purpose was to advertise a new housing development, believe it or not. But it garnered attention, so they kept it. Funny story: sometime in the early 1940s, the sign's caretaker got drunk and lost control of his car up there, destroying the 'H'."  
"Why is that funny, Sam?" Cas asked him.

Sam sighed. "OK, I don't know if it's actually funny, so much as ironic."

"What kind of car was it?" Dean asked his brother, who shrugged. "I don't know, Dean. How the hell should I know?" Sam said irritably. "What does that have to do with the story?"

"So what you're saying is the sign was both cockeyed and Cockney there, for a while," Gail commented.

Sam smiled. "Thank you!" he exclaimed. He looked at the other men. "Now THERE'S somebody who knows how to appreciate a good story."

Dean looked puzzled, so Nicole nudged him. "Because the 'H' was dropped?" she said to Dean, raising her eyebrows. Then she smiled at Gail. "That was pretty clever."

"Thank you, I'm here all weekend," Gail quipped. "Try the veal."

"Anyway, in 1949, they rebuilt the sign, leaving the 'land' part off, to reflect the district of Hollywood instead. But by the 1970s, it had severely deteriorated again, so Hugh Hefner started a campaign to restore it, and several celebrities, including Hef himself, bought or sponsored letters."

"Did he buy the two Os?" Dean inquired. The others looked at him, puzzled. "Boobies," he said innocently.

Gail and Nicole looked at each other, and then, they burst out laughing. "Oh my God, you're such a child," Nicole said to Dean.

"But you thought it was funny, didn't you?" Dean retorted, and Nicole nodded. He had her, there.

"Somebody should totally go up there and do that," Dean went on, but Sam shook his head. "They'd be arrested if they did," his brother said. "There's a motion detector, and a closed-circuit camera that alerts the cops if the zone around the sign is breached."

"Well, so much for that," Nicole said to Dean. "I don't want to be passing the hat for your bail money before the movie premiere." She and Dean smiled at each other, and Dean took her hand.

Now Gail and Cas smiled at each other. They had been holding hands this whole time, of course, but it was sweet to see Dean and Nicole doing it. Gail considered taunting him about it, but then she decided to leave it be. Nicole and Dean had just made up, and Gail didn't want to say anything to make Nicole feel skittish. She hoped to get to know Dean's girlfriend a little better on this trip. Some people were a little disconcerted by Gail's sense of humour. She blamed Frank for it, Gail thought with some amusement.

They got to the sidewalk where the Walk of Fame began. There were quite a few people meandering about, calling out the names of famous peoples' stars to their companions. And there were the inevitable gift shops, of course.

"I'd like to get a little something for Frank," Gail said to Cas. "You know how much he likes his souvenirs. Remember all the stuff he bought in Romania, claiming it was for Rob?"

Cas smiled. "By all means, let's get something for him, then."

"Too bad he wasn't here in person," Sam remarked. "He could get a tattoo or get Jody some lingerie. Is it just me, or do there seem to be a preponderance of those kinds of places here?"

Dean did a double-take, and then he smirked. "Well, Professor, Frank might get a tattoo, but I doubt Jody would want some lingerie right now. Not unless it comes in XXXL."

Nicole looked at him, puzzled. "What?"

Then they realized: she didn't know. "Jody's pregnant," Gail told her. "Isn't that great?"

"That's fantastic!" Nicole exclaimed. She hit Dean on the arm. "Why didn't you tell me about that?"

"Ow!" he said. "I was too busy worrying about whether you were ever gonna talk to me again to even think about that."

"Why don't you guys go on ahead, then?" Gail said to the others. "Cas and I will duck into one of these gift shops, and we'll catch up to you."

"Maybe I'd better go with you, instead," Dean said to Gail. "If we let you go in one of these dimly-lit stores with him, we might not see you guys again for an hour." He grabbed Gail's arm, pulling her away from Cas and towards the store. "Go ahead, you guys."

Dean propelled Gail into the store, closing the door behind them. She was looking at him with wide eyes. "What the hell, Dean?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something," he told her.

"No kidding," she said, bemused. "That was about as subtle as a sledgehammer. What's up?"

"I want to ask your opinion," Dean said.

Gail stood there expectantly, but Dean didn't say anything further. Her eyebrows raised, and then she gestured at him. "Well? What is it?" she said impatiently.

Dean looked uncomfortable. "I wanna know what you think about...room protocol," he replied hesitantly. Gail's forehead wrinkled. She peered closer at him. Was he turning red?

"What the hell are you talking about, Dean?" she asked him.

Dean cleared his throat. "I kind of thought that Nicole and I would be sharing a room," he told her, "but she already had hers booked."

Gail's lips twitched. Dean Winchester, ladies' man, asking her for advice on how to..."Quit smirking," he said grumpily. "Maybe I should have asked Cas, instead."

Now she grinned. "Go right ahead, if you want to stay celibate for the rest of your life. When you look up 'suave' in the dictionary, you won't find his picture there. When we first got together, I had to practically put out a neon Welcome mat."

Dean laughed. "You're pretty funny, sometimes. Not exactly Angelic, but damn funny. OK, Mrs. Awesome, how do I tell her I want in? So to speak."

Gail made a face. "OK, first of all, ewww. I would definitely rephrase that before you say it to her. But the short answer is: you don't. She just forgave you. Don't rush things. Some people like their space, Dean. She's obviously really independent. I thought you liked that."

"I do, but..." Dean gave up. He didn't really know what his problem was. Nicole had forgiven him, and she had invited them all to the premiere. He should just be satisfied with that. "Yeah, OK. I guess you're right, Gail," he sighed.

She was smiling again. "I think you're cute," she told him.

"Oh, boy," Dean said dryly. "Imagine my excitement. OK, let's go."

"Just a minute. We've got to get something for Frank, first," Gail said. She headed off down one of the aisles.

Dean let out a frustrated breath, then followed her. "Can't you and Cas do that?" he asked her.

She was picking up trinkets now, respecting them. "Sure, if you want Nicole asking what you and I were doing in here, if we didn't buy anything."

As Dean thought about that, Gail looked up at him. "Oh, and you'll have to pay," she said pertly, flashing him a wicked grin. "You know I never have any money." She selected a couple of items and headed towards the cash register as Dean threw his hands up in surrender.

Nicole was standing on the sidewalk outside the store, waiting for them. "Cas and Sam went up ahead, to another store," she said. "I told them I'd wait here, so you wouldn't be wondering where we were."

Gail was squinting now. She hadn't realized how bright the midday sun was until she'd come out into it from inside the store. It was getting a little warm for her, too. Fortunately, it was spring, or she'd be roasting.

They walked a little further along the sidewalk and then they saw Sam and Cas emerging from a store up ahead. Gail stared at her husband, and then her face broke into a smile. "You look like a movie star," she said to him.

"Those are designer sunglasses he's wearing," Sam told Gail, when she and the others caught up to them. "Expensive ones, too. But hey, it's not my money."

Gail's eyes narrowed. "How expensive, exactly?"

Cas told her, and she gasped. "Oh, come on!" she exclaimed. "For a pair of sunglasses?"

Sam grinned. "They sure saw him coming."

"Of course they saw me coming," Cas said. "I walked right in the front door, and it had a bell on it."

Gail rolled her eyes as the others smiled. She had to admit that Cas looked pretty cool, for lack of a better term. He took her hand. "You said you wanted to see me wearing glasses, and they said these were the best," he told his wife.

She could just bet they did, Gail thought. But the sun was getting brighter, the purchase had already been made, and she wasn't about to stand here and try to articulate how designer sunglasses weren't the same as the kind of glasses she'd been talking about in Heaven. So she grabbed his hand and said, "OK, let's go, Mr. Movie Star."

They walked a little further, and then Nicole said, "Oh, look. There's the Dolby Theatre. That's where the premiere is going to be."

"The Dolby Theatre?" Sam said, startled. "Isn't that where they have the Oscars every year?"

"Yup," Nicole said proudly. "We've really hit the big time. I think Richard has some connections here."

Dean whistled. "The Oscars, huh? We'd better bring our 'A' game, then." He looked at his brother and Cas. "We'll have to find a tux rental place."

Gail looked at Nicole. "Actually, I'm glad that came up. What are you wearing?"

"Shouldn't that be 'who' am I wearing?" Nicole quipped.

Gail smiled. "Not bad," she remarked.

"Believe it or not, I was wondering the same thing," Nicole replied. "I Googled a place that rents gowns. I think we'd better do that."

Gail nodded. "Sounds good. How about you and I go there tomorrow, while the guys are getting their tuxedos?" She pointed a finger at Sam and Dean. "Make sure the guys at the store don't try to sell Cas an Armani tuxedo with diamond cufflinks, or something," she instructed them, and they laughed.

Cas's eyes narrowed. "I'm not that gullible," he protested.

Dean was smirking. "No? Who was it that took out his wallet when we went to buy that engagement ring your wife's got on, and told the guy to take all his money?" He nudged Gail. "Don't worry, he'll be fine. We'll make sure."

"But don't cheap out, either," she said, nudging him back. "You guys might have to sign some autographs. After all, you're all in the movie," she joked.

The group kept on walking. Gail was craning her neck, looking at the palm trees that lined the boulevard. "Wow," she marveled. "I think we've finally found some living things that are taller than Sam."

"Hey, there's the Capitol Records Building," Nicole said, pointing at the uniquely shaped structure. "Every show I've ever seen that's based in Hollywood uses that building as a stock shot."

"I can see why. It looks very distinctive," Cas remarked. He had seen the place on TV himself; he was sure of it.

"It looks like a stack of records," Dean chipped in.

Sam grinned. "You know what? If you said that to somebody like Riley, he wouldn't even know what you were talking about."

"Yeah, I know," Dean agreed. "Holy crap, are you ever old, Sammy."

"No, that would be me," Cas said absently. He was smiling, looking around them at all the tourists, and the never-ending stream of cars on the boulevard. Gail gave his hand a squeeze in appreciation of his quip.

A few minutes later, Sam said, "Oh, there's the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. There are a lot of movie stars buried there. Actually, I kind of wanted to go see it."

Dean rolled his eyes. Well, at least it wasn't serial killers, which was another fascination of Sam's, besides history. But maybe, if the others were OK with it, they could accommodate Sammy, for a change. "I'll tell you what," Dean said. "Unless anybody's got any objections, let's find someplace to eat. Then after we're done, we can walk over there and have a look."

"Sounds good to me," Gail said, relieved. "The sun's a little warm for me. Maybe it'll be gone, by the time you guys finish eating dinner." She smiled. "Besides, it'll be spookier to visit a cemetery at night."

"If we meet a vengeful ghost, we'll just stand back and let you and Sam do your thing," Nicole said to Dean.

They found a restaurant and had dinner, and the humans had a couple of drinks. The group took their time, laughing and chatting, and when they came out, the sun was setting over the Hollywood sign.

"Wow, look at that," Nicole said, pointing. "Just like in the movies."

As they walked to the corner to cross the boulevard at the stoplight, Sam said, "Actually, I don't know for sure if the gates to the cemetery will even still be open. But maybe they will, 'cause the place is kind of a tourist attraction. A lot of old-time movie stars are buried there. Rudolph Valentino, for instance."

"Who?" Dean asked.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Rudolph Valentino. He was THE movie star, back in the day. The original sex symbol."

The light changed, and they began to cross the boulevard. "What day would that be?" Dean persisted.

"The silent movie era," Sam replied. "I know, it's a long time ago, but it's kind of cool, really. He had thousands and thousands of female fans. There have been rumours that he was actually gay, but he was married twice, and he dated a lot of women, so it's hard to say. Movie stars had morals clauses back in those days, so they had to toe the studio's line."

"Who said he was gay?" Gail piped up. "Probably just a bunch of husbands, jealous because their wives were swooning all over the guy." She smiled at Cas. "I might be one of those jealous people, after the movie premiere," she joked.

"You realize our faces aren't gonna be on the big screen, right?" Dean said to her. "If you see us at all, it'll probably just be from behind."

Gail shrugged. "That's OK, my husband looks just as good from the back end," she said, waggling an eyebrow comically.

"And this is the woman who's trying to be the next God," Dean said, shaking his head.

Nicole grinned. "Hey, I'm all for it," she said. "It's about time we objectified you guys, for a change."

"I'll try to make that a Commandment," Gail wisecracked, and the women laughed. "Thou shalt take thy shirt off when requested. Or something like that." Gail snickered, then she put a hand on her mouth. "I can't believe I just said that. It's a good thing Patricia can't hear me." She looked at Cas again. "Sorry, sweetie. I may have just crossed the line, there."

He smiled faintly. "That's all right. I've made a mental note to admonish you about it, later."

Dean looked at the two of them, and then he did a double-take, but the sun had nearly set now, and he couldn't quite make out the expression on Cas's face. On second thought, he was probably better off if he never, ever thought about it.

Apparently, Sam felt the same way, because he cleared his throat now. "Anyway, Valentino died young. He was only 31 years old."

"What did he die of?" Dean asked his brother. Hey, anything to change the subject. He was pretty sure he'd figured out what Cas had been alluding to, and now, he was trying to keep the visual images out of his head. Damn Angels. Why couldn't they just act like a normal married couple?

"Appendicitis," Sam replied, in answer to Dean's question. "Then he developed peritonitis, then pleuritis in his lung." He held up his hand in anticipation of the inevitable. "Yeah, I know, that's a lot of 'itis-es'. But the bottom line is, he was dead a week later. There were hundreds of thousands of people at his funeral in Manhattan. Women were hysterical, throwing themselves at the coffin. Then they put his body on a train and shipped it out here to California, and then they had a whole other funeral. But because he was so young when he died, he hadn't made any arrangements. So his ex-wife offered to bury him in her crypt here. That must have been a friendly divorce. Weirdly enough, she died the next year. So now, they're buried side by side."

"That's very romantic," Cas commented. "They were obviously meant to be together, then."

Sam looked at their Angel friend. "Really? That's kind of funny, coming from you. I thought that you of all people would say that their bodies were only vessels," he remarked.

Cas brought Gail's hand to his lips and kissed it. "I probably WOULD have said that, a number of years ago," he said softly. "But now, I have a different point of view."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Tell me this boneyard is haunted, Sammy," he pleaded. "Anything to distract us from Mr. and Mrs. Kissyface, here."

"Out of all the nicknames you've given us, that's far and away my favourite," Gail said, smirking.

"I was saving the best for last," Sam said to Dean, as they approached the cemetery gate, which was standing open. "It's been reported that a mysterious woman in black brought a red rose to his crypt every year. Rumour had it that she'd been hired by the studio to do that, as a publicity stunt. But, years later, a woman by the pretty cool of Ditra Flame came forward, saying that she was the original Lady in Black. When she was very sick as a child, Valentino came to visit her in the hospital. He brought her a single red rose and told her she would get better, even though her prognosis wasn't good. So she went to his grave for years and years after his death, every year, to bring him a rose in return. Then other women started to imitate her, so she stopped. She was in her '70s when she died."

"That's a sweet story," Nicole said, as they walked through the cemetery. Incredibly, the place was still open, even though it was nearly full dark now. In a lot of places, there would be vandals, defacing the gravestones, or young people partying. But the place was quiet, and obviously well maintained. Maybe the caretaker just hadn't gotten around to closing the gates yet, Sam thought.

Nicole was starting to feel a little bit creeped out. As night fell, lights came on automatically along the main path, but the lighting was still very dim. Maybe they shouldn't have dawdled so long over dinner. Then she admonished herself. There was nothing to be scared of. She was with two Hunters and two Angels. It was one helluva security team.

"There's the crypt, up ahead," Sam said suddenly. "And look, there's someone there. Someone in black."

Nicole peered into the darkness. He was right, there was a figure there. She stopped walking. "You guys had better not be setting me up," she said angrily, "or I'll never speak to you again."

"No, we're not setting you up," Dean replied. "Although, that would have been awesome."

"Watch it, Winchester," Nicole said, but he could hear the smile in her voice. "You just got out of the doghouse, but you could just as easily go back in."

"That does it; we're keeping you and Gail apart from now on," Dean quipped. "You're starting to sound like her."

"I always knew you were an intelligent woman," Gail said to Nicole, smirking.

They approached the crypt, and the woman who had been kneeling there rose quietly to her feet and regarded the group.

"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to startle you," Sam said to her. "We're tourists."

"Yes, but that's not all you are," the woman in the black dress said. "Let me tell you something. Movies are wonderful. They provide escapist entertainment for the masses. But you have a higher calling. Don't lose sight of that. Humanity is depending on you."

"Who are you?" Cas said, stepping forward. "Why are you saying that?"

"There is imminent danger coming, Castiel," the woman said sharply. "First, it will come from underneath the ground, and then it will come from the sky. Be sure the power does not consume you, as it did before. This will be your test."

Cas opened his mouth to speak again, to demand to know who she was, and what she was talking about. But before he could utter a word, the woman vanished.

There was silence for a moment, and then Gail said, "OK, what the hell was THAT?" She was angry, and she was also scared. Too many times, she and Cas had gone places only to be confronted by a stranger giving them dire warnings about vague things.

"Boy, Cas, we can't take you anywhere," Sam said, as if reading Gail's mind. That broke the tension a little, but Cas was frowning deeply. The disappearance of the woman in black hadn't fazed him one bit, nor had the fact that she had known his identity and spoken to him directly. As Dean or Bobby would probably say, this wasn't his first rodeo. But what did distress him was that she was warning him of imminent danger. And the wording of the warning was what he was concentrating on, now. A threat from underneath the ground? He spoke that aloud now.

Nicole shook herself out of the momentary feeling of shock she had felt. "Hell?" she ventured.

Cas shook his head. "No. Most humans assume that Hell is down below us, and that Heaven is up above," he told her. "That's not the case. They're in...how can I put this? Alternative planes of being."

"Wow," Nicole quipped. "I did not understand a word of what you just said."

"Don't worry, I've been to Heaven hundreds of times, and I still don't understand it," Gail said to her.

"Hey, what do you say we get out of here?" Dean suggested. "It's too dark now. I can't even see any of your faces. If you want, we can go back to the hotel and have a drink and talk about it."

So Gail and Cas winked them all back to the hotel, and Nicole bought drinks for herself, Sam, and Dean. Cas and Gail declined her offer.

"Danger from underneath the ground, and from the sky," Dean mused aloud.

"Could it be earthquakes, maybe?" Gail speculated. "They have a lot of those in California, don't they?"

"But then, what danger would be coming from the sky?" Nicole asked.

As the others were tossing around ideas as to what the dangers could potentially be, Cas was concentrating on the latter part of the message. The woman in black had advised that he was going to undergo some sort of a test. Again, this statement did not faze him in the slightest. His Father had been testing him for aeons. But she had also warned Castiel about not letting power consume him, and this part of the warning concerned him a great deal. It was no secret that he had struggled with that same issue in the past. Cas interpreted the spirit's warning to mean that he would be given some kind of test shortly to see if he would be able to handle the type of power that he would receive if he were to be elected to the High Office. That was totally understandable, and in fact, he was eager to prove to his Father that he would be equal to the challenge. He had improved himself in very many ways, both as an Angel, and as a man. Cas was confident that having that much power would no longer corrupt him.

So, he was strangely serene as the others debated about increasingly more far-fetched perils that could befall them. "Let's not worry about it right now," Cas said, surprising his friends. He was usually the one who fretted the most about things. Cas looked at Gail, taking her hand. "I think we'll call it a night. What are we going to do tomorrow?" He looked at Nicole, then back at his wife. "What would you ladies like to do?"

Nicole glanced at Gail. "I don't know about you, but I'd love to do a studio tour," Dean's girlfriend said.

Gail shrugged. "Sounds good to me. Whatever anyone else wants to do is fine. I'm just happy to be here."

Cas smiled. "Then it's settled. That's what we'll do tomorrow."

Dean nodded. "We'll meet downstairs in the restaurant at...what? Eight?"

Everyone agreed to that, and Cas and Gail stood, wishing their friends a good night. Dean gave Sam a glance, and Sam stood as well. "I'm going to our room," Sam told the Angels. "I'll walk up with you."

Once they'd gone, Dean looked at Nicole. He reached out and took her hand across the table. "Do you want another drink?" Dean asked her.

Nicole yawned. "I don't think so. I think I just want to get some rest. We got a lot of sun today, and tomorrow is going to be a long day, too. Should be fun, though."

Dean found himself tongue-tied now. It was frustrating, really. This was uncharted territory for him. In the past, all he'd had to do to get a girl to go to bed with him was look at her in a certain way. But Nicole was different. She was in the driver's seat here, and she'd been casually affectionate with him, but he still sensed a coolness between them.

Nicole looked at him, amused. She wondered if Dean knew what an open book he was. "We'll get there again," she assured him in a soft voice. She gave his hand a squeeze, then released it. "I'll see you in the morning." She stood up and left the bar as Dean gazed after her.

He ordered another beer.

Quinn was rooting through her closet when Sam called. Where was that gown that she'd worn to her aunt's wedding? Oh, there it was. It was pushed to the side, still wrapped in the dry cleaners' bag.

She'd been just about to take it out and put it on to make sure it still fit when suddenly, Oliver appeared in the chair by the bed, startling her.

"What the hell are you doing, Oliver?!" she exclaimed. "You know you're not supposed to be in here! We talked about that, remember? Boundaries."

"I know, but I saw that you were packing," he said, agitated. "Where are you going?"

"I'm only going away for the weekend," Quinn told him. She sighed. "I'm going to Hollywood. I've been invited to a movie premiere with Sam and his friends."

Predictably enough, Oliver perked up. "What about my journal?" he asked her. "Have they found it yet?"

"I doubt it," Quinn answered, as patiently as she could. Oliver and that damn journal. It was a shame he didn't have an actual, solid body, because once they finally found the darn thing, she would love to whack him upside the head with it. Quinn liked Sam a lot, and she was looking forward to getting to know his brother and their friends better. But she couldn't deny that a large part of her was just happy to be getting away from Oliver for a bit. She sighed again. "I'll ask."

On cue, Quinn's cell phone rang. She went over to the dresser to answer it. "Hi, Sam," she said. "How are you? How's Hollywood?"

"So far, so good," he told her. "I just thought I'd call to make sure we were still on for Saturday."

"Yes, of course," Quinn told him. She'd been about to add that she was in the process of packing right now when Oliver piped up, "What about the journal?"

Quinn gestured impatiently. "Oliver, would you just - " she started to say.

But Sam grinned. "Let me guess. Your roommate wants you to ask me about his journal," he said.

"It's not funny, Sam," Quinn fumed.

"Actually, it kind of is," he told her.

"Oh, yeah?" she retorted. "You try being harassed about one subject, all day, every day, and see how you like it."

Sam had the urge to tell her what it was like to live with Dean sometimes, but he checked himself. He chose to live with his brother. Quinn had not chosen to have her house haunted by the Ghost Who Wouldn't Leave. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I'll tell you what; as soon as we get home, I'll call my guy and follow up. Okay?"

Quinn told Oliver what Sam was saying. The spirit let out a frustrated breath, but he popped out of her room.

"Anyway, I was just calling to tell you something," Sam continued. "I don't know if you were wondering what to bring to wear for the premiere, so I thought I'd tell you that Nicole and Gail are going to rent gowns. Apparently, Nicole Googled a place. So if you want, you can probably go with them on Saturday morning, after you get here."

Quinn smiled. This was one reason she liked Sam so much. How many guys would be considerate enough to think of such things? She opened her mouth to tell him that she already had a gown, but then she stopped. She'd been wanting to get to know his friends better. "Thanks, Sam," Quinn said. "I think I will tag along with them, if they're OK with that."

"I'm sure they will be, but I'll tell them tomorrow," Sam replied. He and Quinn chatted for a few more minutes, and then they hung up. Quinn resumed packing.

Gail had gotten undressed, and she was sitting on the edge of the bed in her nightshirt, watching Cas undress. "I don't know why it is that everywhere we go, strange people are giving us dire warnings," she remarked wryly.

Cas smiled. "I guess I just bring that out in them," he said mildly. He was unbuttoning his shirt, then undid his pants.

Gail's forehead wrinkled. "Why aren't you more worried about this?"

Cas was bemused. "Do you WANT me to be more worried?" he asked her.

"No, of course not," she said, "but it's not like you."

He had taken off his jeans now and folded them over his blazer on the chair. He came over to the bed and sat beside her, taking her hands in his. "Do you remember when we were separated, and we thought that I had done all of those terrible things?" Cas asked her rhetorically. "I told you about going to the fair with the crew and receiving God's punishments there."

Gail nodded. Of course she remembered. She hadn't found out about that until much later, of course. That had been before Cas had had to send her and Sam back in time to reverse the car accident that had left Sam in the coma. But she and Cas had barely been on speaking terms at the time, and when he had sent her and Sam back, she and Cas had to build their relationship back up a second time. Tears sprang to her eyes. All that time wasted, when she and Cas should have been together. All that heartbreak, for no reason. She felt a wave of resentment towards Metatron. But there was no point in dwelling on it now.

Cas went on to explain to her his assumption that God was lining up a test for him, to see if Cas would be fit to take the Office. "You know that I haven't done well with too much power in the past, and I've paid a heavy price for my shortcomings," Cas told her sincerely. "But now, with your help and the support of our family, I feel as if I'm ready." Then he smiled. "Unless you're going to win the election, instead."

Gail made a face. "You and I both know I'm not going to win the election," she told him, shaking her head. "But, that's okay. I'll support you when YOU do. And don't worry: if I feel like you're getting carried away, you know I won't hesitate to let you know." Now she was grinning.

"I know, and I'll look forward to that," Cas responded, his lips twitching. "But right now, I feel that we have another problem."

"What's that?" she asked him.

"We're wearing too much clothing," he quipped.

Gail laughed. "Well, I think we can figure out what to do about that." She reached up and slid the shirt off of his shoulders. He took it the rest of the way off and discarded it on the floor. "Finally, I've gotten what I wanted," she said to him, caressing his chest and arms. "You, with your shirt off."

Cas put his arms around her. "If you like, I'll add that as a Commandment once I take the Office," he murmured, smiling. He kissed her on the mouth.

She looked down at his shorts. "Let's negotiate some more," she quipped.

The next morning after breakfast, the group walked to the movie studio and amusement park.

"I don't know what to do first," Nicole said excitedly. She picked up a brochure from the ticket kiosk as Cas and Sam paid admission. "There are animal acts here, too," she continued. "This isn't just a movie studio, it's a whole theme park. Special effects shows, family stuff, all kinds of things."

"We'll do it all," Dean said, putting his arm around her. "Whatever you want."

Gail was looking over Nicole's shoulder at the brochure. "Oh, boy. Minions, Simpsons, Shrek...too bad Frank isn't here."

"Don't you mean Rob?" Sam said, smiling.

"No," Gail answered pertly, and they all laughed.

"They also have a tram ride that takes us through a bunch of different movie and TV worlds," Nicole went on. "King Kong, Jurassic Park, Jaws, the Grinch, Bates Motel, The Walking Dead..."

"Uh-oh," Gail said, looking at the brothers. "Did you guys bring your weapons?"

"Sounds pretty scary," Sam said affably.

"Are you kidding? It sounds great," Dean enthused. "Give me action movies any day. Sammy's always trying to get me to watch movies with subtitles, or movies that are supposed to make you think. I don't wanna think, I want to see explosions."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dean doesn't do too well with complex plots," he retorted. "He once watched Jaws with me and asked, 'Which one's the shark, again?""

Gail burst out laughing. "That's probably the funniest thing I've ever heard you say, and you've said a lot of funny things," she told Sam. "Bend down here, so I can give you a high-five."

"Can I see that for a minute?" Dean asked Nicole, gesturing to Nicole for the brochure. She handed it to him, and he whacked Sam with it. "Hey, there's a horror exhibit here we've gotta check out," Dean told the group. "It looks pretty cool. They've got all the scariest bad guys here. Hey, Gail, maybe your dad's there."

She gave him a baleful look. "Har, har. Very funny."

"Dean, you shouldn't say things like that," Cas admonished his friend.

"It's OK," Gail said. "If Frank was here, he'd be saying the same thing. It's probably better just to joke about it. Then it doesn't seem so scary."

"What are you guys talking about?" Nicole asked them, puzzled.

"It's a long story, and we don't even know the full story yet," Gail told her. "But, from everything we've heard, he sounds like a real piece of work."

"They've got Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Darth Vader, Dr. Evil, some guy named...Noss-fur-at-you?" Dean said, reading from the brochure.

Sam made a face. "You mean Nosferatu," he said, shaking his head. "Come on, Dean. You should know who that is. He was the first movie vampire. We even watched that movie that was based on the original silent film. Shadow Of The Vampire, remember?"

Dean thought about it, and then his expression brightened. "Oh, yeah! I remember. That movie was a comedy, though."

"Yeah, to us it was, because it was schlocky," Sam agreed. "But for its day, the original movie was really scary."

"I've gotta admit that guy looked pretty creepy," Dean agreed. He looked at Gail. "Maybe your dad looks like that. Wait till you see this Nosferatu guy. Holy crap."

"That wouldn't surprise me," Gail said with a calm she didn't feel. She had seen photos of the Nosferatu character from the original movie, and the image had disturbed her.

"All right, you've had your fun, but I want you to stop, now," Cas said sternly to Dean. "We're here to have fun, and you're going to make Gail feel badly."

"OK, Dad," Dean quipped, but he put an arm around Gail and gave her an apologetic squeeze.

"You sound like the voice of authority already," Gail said, looking warmly at her husband. She poked Dean. "You'd better stay on his good side." Then she grinned. "And mine, for that matter." Then, suddenly, she blinked her eyes.

"If you're trying to wink, you need some lessons," Dean told her, smirking.

"No, I felt something in my eye," Gail responded. She dabbed her cheek with her finger, then looked up at the sky. "Was that...?"

"Snow," Nicole said, holding out her hand. "At the risk of feeding a stereotype, I'm Canadian. I know snow when I see it. Look." She captured a snowflake on her palm, showing it to the group.

"Snow, in Hollywood? In April?" Sam said curiously.

"Hey, Cas, maybe that's your danger from the sky," Dean said, elbowing his friend.

But Cas was doubtful. "I don't see what danger a few snowflakes would pose, Dean."

A moment later, as quickly as it had started, the snow stopped. Nicole shrugged. "Oh, well. No harm done. Let's go, you guys." She took Dean's hand, and they proceeded to the first exhibit.

Adrian sat still in the chair, looking down at his desk. Well, that was it, then. Wyatt's doctor had just called Adrian on his private line with the news: HIV positive. Game over. As General Tanaka's people might say, Sayonara, Baby.

And he had nobody to blame but himself, really. Most of the time when he and Wyatt had gotten together, they had used protection. Most of the time. But on a couple of occasions, when the pressures of his job had gotten to be too much and he had needed the release, Adrian had picked up a different young man on a dimly lit street for a quick one, and he hadn't been careful about it. And Wyatt had been no choir boy, either. Adrian had known that he was seeing other men, of course. Sometimes, the feeling had come upon Wyatt so strong that he'd brought one of the closet cases home from the club, had a few too many drinks, and if the guy didn't have a condom, they'd proceeded anyway. All it took was one time. Just like getting pregnant.

So, Adrian and Wyatt had both played Russian roulette with their lives, and now, they had both lost. But there was the domino effect to be considered. In Wyatt's world, promiscuity usually led to promiscuity. And there was Adrian's own wife to think of, too. Most of the time Adrian had been able to plead exhaustion from overwork, but every once in a while, Sandra had complained about it, and he'd had to take her to bed just to shut her up for a while.

He couldn't tell her, of course. She would find out when he died, and then, she could get herself tested. Even as Adrian thought about it like that, he realized how cold-blooded he was being. But he had a chance now to go down in history as being something other than just a closet case, and he intended to take his shot.

Adrian reached for the pad of paper he kept on the top of his desk. He organized his thoughts, wrote down his terms, and then picked up the phone.

Minutes later, Generals Sizemore and Tanaka and Dr. Exeter were gathered in Adrian's office. He passed around the notes he had made to all three of them. "If we can agree on my terms, I'll have this typed up and notarized," General Greene told his colleagues.

General Tanaka looked at him curiously. "Why would you want to do this, Adrian?"

"I believe that's my business," General Greene responded. "But the bottom line is that we've taken the generic testing as far as we can. We all know that the next logical step is to test the formula on a person."

"We have no idea what that stuff could do to you," Dr. Exeter protested.

Adrian was nodding. "Which is why I've written that." He gestured to the pad of paper. "I'll sign a waiver of liability if you'll agree to provide my wife and daughter with the annuities I have requested."

The other men exchanged glances. Then General Tanaka smiled grimly. "Done," he said. "Let's fast-track this. Once we all sign the agreement and have it notarized, we'll begin injecting you this afternoon. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Adrian said tersely. He stood from his desk, accepting the notepad back. "Dismissed." He was still the ranking Officer, and he was determined to follow protocol until the bitter end.

The men saluted him and exited the office.


	5. I've Seen That Movie, Too

Chapter 5 - I've Seen That Movie, Too

The morning of the movie premiere, the women went to the gown rental shop and the men went to the tuxedo place.

Quinn had flown in early that morning, and she'd arranged to meet the group in the hotel lobby. She'd met everyone before except for Nicole. So the two women were introduced, and then the groups split up, arranging to meet back at the hotel when they were done.

The women had taken a cab to the gown rental place and they were there now, trying on dresses.

"This reminds me of one of those montages in the movies, where she comes out in different outfits and her friends keep giving her the thumbs-down, until she finds the perfect one," Gail said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, we are trying on dresses for a movie premiere," Nicole commented, "so I guess that's appropriate."

"Cue the montage music," Quinn chipped in, smiling.

"You know what? I really hate trying on dresses," Gail told the others.

"Me, too," Nicole agreed. "I'm not really a 'girly girl'."

Quinn was still smiling, but her stomach was churning. Ever since she had taken everyone's hand in greeting this morning and kissed Sam on the cheek, she'd had an uneasy feeling. She'd had a flash, just a momentary glimpse of what appeared to be a funeral. But perhaps it was because there had recently been one: Dean's, in fact. Quinn had not attended the memorial service, but Sam had called her afterwards, and the two of them had talked frequently and grown closer since then. Then Sam had called her with the happy news that Dean had been revived, and Quinn had been over-the-moon happy for him. But then, why was she seeing a funeral now, when she touched them all?

But this was a joyous occasion, and she was here in a social capacity, not a professional one. It was hard enough for Quinn to make and keep friends as it was because of what she did for a living. So there was no way she was going to go there right now. It wasn't as if she had anything concrete or specific to go on, either. As for what she had seen, it could have been just a trace vision, brought about by the emotional hangover, as it were, of Dean's recent death. Quinn had sensed the feelings emanating from all of them on that subject, the strongest vibe coming from Nicole. Following their brief handshake upon meeting each other, Quinn had known instantly that Nicole was still resentful about having been left out of the loop when it had come to Dean's revival, but she was trying to get past it. After their day at the amusement park the day before and an intimate dinner, Dean had walked his girlfriend to her door at the hotel, only to be turned away after a knee-trembling kiss in the hallway. For an instant, Nicole had almost relented. After all, she was only human. But she was trying to uphold a principle, here. Hopefully, the next time they made love, Dean would have learned that she wasn't just some international booty call, but an actual person, with feelings. That was all she was asking for, and quite frankly, that was what she felt she deserved.

When Quinn had shaken Dean's hand, she had felt his confusion with regard to Nicole, but interestingly enough, she had also sensed a feeling of calm, almost a Zenlike acceptance of the situation. If Dean were so inclined, he could have told Quinn that he did respect Nicole, a lot more than his girlfriend seemed to realize. He'd done a lot of thinking about it, and Dean understood completely now where Nicole was coming from. It wasn't really in Dean's nature to talk about things like the feelings that he was grappling with when it came to Nicole. But he knew that women were wired differently than men, and if he wanted to continue to pursue a relationship with Nicole, Dean guessed that he would have to step up to the plate soon.

Quinn was thinking about the couple now, as she watched Gail and Nicole teasing each other about trying on gowns and high heels. Quinn had always enjoyed this sort of thing herself, but she realized that everyone was different. Besides, Quinn was taller and more slender than the other two women; therefore, it was much easier for her to find clothes that fit.

Nicole was grousing about that now, as she looked at herself in the mirror. "I wish these designers would realize that women come in all shapes and sizes," she remarked.

"I know, right?" Gail said in agreement. She was looking down at herself in disgust. "Even with the heels they lent me here, I'd need about a foot less material at the bottom. Maybe I should be shopping at the midget store. Oops, I mean the vertically challenged store." She looked at Quinn. "Wow, I wish I had your body. You can probably just walk into any store and buy pants, without having to chop two feet off of them. Am I right?"

Quinn smiled sheepishly. "I'm afraid so," she confirmed. "But you're right, they should design dresses for different types of women."

"Maybe I'll ask Cas to make THAT a Commandment," Gail said, snickering. "I'd better start a list."

Nicole came out of the change room where she'd taken a few dresses to try on. She was wearing a royal blue gown that draped over one shoulder, leaving the other one bare. "What do you think?" she asked the others.

"That's a great colour on you," Quinn stated.

"I kind of like the bare skin, and so will Dean," Gail said, her lips twitching. "I think that's a keeper."

"Sounds good," Nicole said happily. "I was getting tired of the stupid fashion show, anyway. Now, let's get the two of you fixed up, and then we can go for lunch."

"You go next, Quinn," Gail told Sam's girlfriend. "I have to look for a few more possibilities."

A few minutes later, Quinn came out in an emerald green dress. "That's the one, right there," Nicole told her.

"Yeah," Gail agreed. "You look like a model."

Quinn smiled broadly, pleased by the compliment. So this was what it felt like to have girlfriends.

"OK, I'd better look half-decent in one of these, 'cause I'm getting sick of this," Gail said impatiently, carrying several more gowns into the change room she'd been using. "At this point, I'm ready to ask Cas for one of his shirts and pretend it's a dress."

"Hey, we'll stay here as long as it takes," Quinn said good-naturedly, sitting in the chair beside Nicole. She lowered her voice. "We've got to make sure the future First Lady of Heaven looks good."

Nicole and Quinn made small talk as Gail was changing, and a few minutes later, they heard their Angel friend say, "Holy Moly."

"What?" Nicole asked.

Gail opened the door to the change room and came out, slowly. She was wearing a bright red, tightly-fitting dress with a plunging neckline.

"Wow," Quinn said. "You look great."

"Are you sure?" Gail said doubtfully, inspecting herself in the mirror. "You don't think it's too...you know..."

"Sexy?" Nicole said, smirking. "Hell yeah, it's sexy. And what's wrong with that? Maybe we'll finally get to see Cas blush."

"Angels don't blush," Gail said automatically.

"Really? 'Cause I could swear you're doing it, right now," Nicole retorted, but she was smiling.

"If you wear that to the premiere, I can predict a very romantic night for you, later on," Quinn teased.

"Is that your professional opinion?" Gail joked, raising an eyebrow. She considered her reflection for another minute, then shrugged. "Ahh, screw it. I'll take it. Once everybody sees my husband in a tuxedo, nobody's going to be looking at me, anyway."

"How about our guys?" Nicole said.

"I guess they're OK," Gail replied, her lips twitching. "Just don't tell them I said so. The shorter one's obnoxious enough, as it is." She went back into the change room to change back into her street clothes as Nicole and Quinn laughed.

"Come on, Cas, shake a leg," Dean said impatiently.

"Just a minute, Dean," his Angel friend said. "I've never worn one of these before." He opened the change room door and came out, holding the cummerbund in one hand and the bow tie in the other. "What do I do with these?"

Dean smirked. "C'mere." Cas approached his friend. Dean grabbed the cummerbund and reached around Cas, wrapping it around his waist. "Turn around," he instructed Cas. Dean fastened it at the back. "There."

"Thank you, Dean," Cas said, turning back around. "What about this?" he asked his friend, waving the bow tie.

"For that, we have to call in a specialist," Dean told him. "Sammy!" he called out.

Sam came out from another change room. Because he was so tall, the clerk had had to find a tuxedo for a man of his height, so it had taken longer for Sam to change. He'd deftly tied his own bow tie, but he had figured that Cas might need his help.

"Here, give it to me," Sam said, extending his hand to Cas. "Dean can never do it right."

"'Never'?" Dean said, rolling his eyes. "Name me the amount of times we've put on penguin suits. Once, maybe?"

"Well anyway, as you can see, I know what I'm doing," Sam said. He lifted Cas's shirt collar, tied the tie around their friend's neck, then put his shirt collar back down. "There you go," Sam said. "Now just put on your jacket, and you're done."

"Thank you, Sam," Cas said. He went back into the change room to retrieve the jacket. He shrugged it on, then came back out to look at himself in the mirror. Then he frowned.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked him.

"I wish I knew what colour Gail was wearing," Cas mused. "That way, I could get accessories to match. Did you know that they have a myriad of different colours here? I wonder what colour gown she'll have."

Dean smirked again. "Careful, you're sounding a little like a woman, yourself," he said.

"I just want to look nice, Dean," Cas said mildly.

"You look fine," Dean said irritably. "We all look fine. Let's rent these monkey suits and get going, already."

Cas's forehead wrinkled. "I thought you said they were penguin suits."

Sam grinned. Cas. "Don't ever change," he said to their friend.

Cas's lips twitched. "If I don't change, I'll be overdressed for lunch." He went back into the change room as Sam and Dean looked at each other, shaking their heads.

They'd all met for lunch afterwards, and just as they were paying the bill, Nicole's cell phone rang. She talked excitedly for a moment, and then hung up.

"That was one of the crew guys," she told the others. "They're getting together for a couple of drinks this afternoon, and you're all invited, if you want."

"Sounds good," Dean said.

"I know you don't really drink, but there'll be a number of guys you know from the TV production team there, Cas," Nicole told the Angel.

"Really?" he said. "It would be nice to see them again." Cas looked at his wife. "Is that all right with you, my love?"

Gail nodded. "Sure. Of course. You should see your old friends, by all means."

Quinn was looking at Sam inquiringly, but he was shaking his head. "I think Quinn and I will pass," he said. "We don't really know any of those guys, and Quinn hasn't seen much of the city so far. We're gonna go out and see a few things before we have to come back here and get dressed up." The couple rose from the table and left, telling everyone they'd see them later.

Nicole and Dean and Cas and Gail walked to the pub. They found the group of tables where the movie crew people were, and Nicole sat down with them. Cas seated Gail next to her, and he and Dean went to the bar to get the women their drinks. Since only Nicole knew that they were Angels, Cas and Gail were going to at least have drinks in front of them, or it might look strange.

"Cas! How's it going, man?" Syd greeted him at the bar.

"Very good, Syd," Cas replied. He introduced Syd to Dean, and the two men shook hands.

"Where's your brother, 'Dean'?" Syd asked him.

"He and his girlfriend went sightseeing," Dean replied. Then he saw the smirk on Syd's face. "Oh, I get it," Dean said, nodding. "It's because my name is Dean, and I look like the guy in the movie, right?"

"Well, you've gotta admit, it's pretty crazy," Syd remarked. "Cas, Dean, and Sam? I mean, come on."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, you're right. It's pretty crazy, all right. Thanks, Chuck," he added under his breath.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the movie," Cas said, after ordering a beer for himself and a glass of wine for Gail.

"We all are," Syd agreed. "And I hope it does well, because we're going into production right after the premiere. I'm not even gonna bother unpacking."

"Why? Where are you going?" Dean asked him, a little sharply. Cas looked curiously at his friend.

"Rome," Syd answered. "I don't really know if I'm supposed to say that, but I figured since you guys were involved in the production, it was OK. But I don't want to spoil it for you. You'll see."

Cas smiled inwardly. He already knew. He and Gail had gotten a look at some scenes for the upcoming sequel being planned when they'd gone on their errand in Vancouver. But he said nothing, because there'd been a surprise in there that he thought Dean and Sam might enjoy.

"I'll see you guys back at the table," Syd said to the men. "Axel and I are gonna go outside and grab a j."

"What?" Cas said blankly.

"Smoke up, Cas," Syd said patiently. He remembered from the Vancouver set that Cas was kind of naive when it came to things like that. Cas was still a mystery to a lot of guys on the crew. They all assumed he'd had a kind of strait-laced upbringing, and that was why he didn't know about a lot of things.

"Oh, Right. Marijuana," Cas said, pleased that he had figured out what Syd was talking about.

"Do you guys wanna come with?" Syd asked them.

Dean smirked. It would almost be worth it, just to see what Cas would be like stoned. If drunk Cas was fun, Dean could only imagine. He'd have to remember to have a laugh with Sam and Gail about that later. Maybe they would just wait until Cas was elected God, and then get him stoned. That thought might seem sacrilegious, but it was also funny as hell. Dean was pretty sure that the original God must have been wasted at least once in His existence. How else could you explain things like the platypus, and the Edsel?

"No thank you, Syd," Cas answered for the two of them.

Syd nodded. "OK, Cas. Fill your boots. We'll be back in a few minutes." He and Axel walked away as Cas stared after them. "My boots?" he puzzled aloud.

Dean shrugged. "Never mind, Cas. Canadians are weird."

"Even Nicole?" Cas asked his friend, smiling.

"You know what I mean," Dean said, making a face. He grabbed his and Nicole's drinks as the bartender told the men how much they cost. "Pay the man, Cas," Dean said, walking away. Cas reached for his wallet and paid for all four drinks, then he picked up his beer and Gail's wine glass and made his way back to the table.

"Is it just me, or is there a chill in the air?" Quinn said to Sam.

He grinned. "If you want me to put my arms around you, just say so."

Quinn smiled. "For the record, I don't play those kinds of games. But by all means, if the spirit moves you, go right ahead."

"Pun intended?" Sam said, slipping his arm around her waist.

"Sure, why not?" she said affably.

They'd been walking and walking, and they'd finally stopped and sat down on a bench, to rest their feet and to people-watch for a while. Soon, they would have to get back to the hotel to get ready for the premiere.

Quinn had enjoyed their walk, and Sam's conversation. He was a highly intelligent man, well-versed in a number of subjects. She thought she might be developing some real feelings for him, which was nice. It had been years and years since she'd felt that way about a guy. If ever. There was only one problem. Nearly every time he touched her, she got visions, and nearly all of those visions were of bad things.

When Sam put his arms around Quinn, she didn't see anything at first, which was a welcome change. But as soon as she laid her head on his shoulder, she felt it.

"You're going to lose a member of the family," Quinn blurted out, "but you're also going to get someone back."

She could feel Sam tense, but he said nothing for a moment. She was cursing herself now. Why couldn't she just have kept her big mouth shut?

"That must be Dean you're talking about," Sam eventually said in a calm voice. "You must be picking up on how glad we all are to have him back. That must have been what you picked up from Gail, when you met us all in the hotel lobby earlier today. I was pretty sure I saw something pass between the two of you."

Sam couldn't see Quinn's smile, because he was cuddling her from behind. So, Sam had been looking at Gail. What else was new? At least he'd gotten better recently, or he'd just gotten better at hiding it. But Quinn and Sam were still feeling their way, and she knew that Sam was trying his best not to look at Gail or think about her in that way anymore. So, even though it wasn't true, Quinn said, "Yeah, that must be it."

"I'm lucky to have found you," Sam remarked. "Most women would have had a hard time with the concept of revival."

"Most women aren't me," Quinn said softly. "I've been around the supernatural world for most of my life." And it was true. That was why she had been able to maintain her equilibrium when it had come to a subject that would have made most women question their own sanity. For example, Quinn had known just from taking Gail's hand that the Angel was descended from a long line of witches and voodoo practitioners, and that Gail's father had practiced both, with many horrifying results. But she had vowed not to say anything about that either, not unless it became a clear and present danger for her friends. Let Gail find out in her own time, in her own way. That was, if she even wanted to. From what Quinn was given to understand, after this little jaunt, Cas and Gail had a lot of serious business to attend to in Heaven, so they probably wouldn't be here on Earth that much in the foreseeable future. Which was just as well, really. For a lot of reasons.

Quinn shivered. "Believe it or not, I'm still chilly. And I think we should be getting back now, anyway." She turned around and looked at Sam, smiling. "You know us women take a while to get ready, right?"

Sam returned her smile. "I'm really glad you came, Quinn." He kissed her lightly on the lips. "Sit tight. I'll hail us a cab."

Cas started to unbutton his shirt, and Gail cleared her throat. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked him.

He smiled. "I wish we had the time for a different answer, but the truth is, I was going to start getting dressed. It takes a little while to put a tuxedo on, and I'll still have to get Sam to do my tie for me. I'm not sure how he did it."

"Well, good, because that's where you're going right now," Gail told him. "Grab your tuxedo and whatever else you need. You're changing in their room."

He looked at her, puzzled. They were married, weren't they? The two of them had seen each other in every manner of dress and undress there was. But then suddenly, he got it.

"You want to make an entrance," Cas said to his wife.

"May-be," she said evasively.

"That's why you wouldn't show me what you're wearing," he added.

"Any more than I want to see what you're wearing," she told him. "I just think it'll be neat if we meet down in the lobby, to get the full effect. You and the guys put on your tuxes, and then meet us down there. I'm going to Quinn's room, to change with her and Nicole." She rolled her eyes. "Quinn wants to do our makeup."

Cas smiled. He knew she wasn't really interested in those sorts of things, but he also thought it was nice that Gail was making an effort to befriend Sam and Dean's girlfriends. "All right, my darling," he said. He took the garment bag and dress shoes out of the closet, kissing her gently on the forehead. "We'll see you downstairs, then."

A short while later, Quinn, Nicole and Gail stepped out of the elevator. Dean let out a slow wolf whistle when he saw them.

"You look amazing," Sam said. "All of you."

Cas was speechless. He had never seen Gail dressed that way before. Even the rare times she had worn a dress in Heaven or on their date nights, the garment had been attractive, but not provocative. This dress was...He walked over to her and put his arms around her waist. "You look stunning," he told her. Then he leaned down and nuzzled her cheek with his. "I'll have to keep an eye on you all night, in case another man tries to take you away from me."

"Thanks for the compliment," she said with a half-grin. "But it's me who should be worried about you. You look so handsome, you'll probably have dozens of groupies by the end of the night."

Dean was looking at Nicole and appreciating what he saw. There was just something about that one bare shoulder...He could picture himself kissing her neck, moving down to that shoulder. She would be holding his head, telling him he'd better not stop there. So he would unzip her gown, and...

"We have a surprise," Cas announced. "We booked a limousine to take us to the theatre, so we can arrive in style, just as the movie stars do. Besides, it's gotten quite chilly out now. There were even a few more snow flurries, when we went outside to check if the limousine had arrived."

"Yeah, we were watching the news upstairs, and the weather guy was saying it's almost unheard of for them to get flurries here this late in the season. They were saying that about an inch of snow fell in the Nevada desert, if you can believe that," Sam said.

"Hmm. Imagine that," Nicole remarked. "OK, everybody ready to roll?" she asked.

They took the limousine to the Dolby Theatre. It was dusk when they alit from the car. Gail looked around in wonder. She'd seen a few Oscar telecasts when she and Frank had been in those motel rooms, and the glitz and glamour had always amazed her. It had been strange to think that there was this whole other society out there that none of them would ever be a part of. Now, she almost did feel like she was a part of that society, in a way. There were crowds of people gathered outside the theatre. The fans were undoubtedly there to get a glimpse of the actors, and perhaps to attend the premiere as well, if they'd been lucky enough to get tickets. This afternoon at the pub, the crew members had joked that half of the audience was going to be made up of people who had worked on the movie. But Richard had also set up an online contest, where the prize had been a flight, hotel, and tickets to the premiere, and they had made sure to run the contest in a number of cities in both the USA and Canada. After all, he'd said, the show had been filmed in Canada for all those years when it had just been trying to find its way, and Canadian fans were in a large part responsible for the growth of the show when it had been in its infancy.

So there were a fair amount of fans there, and there were also reporters, and the inevitable paparazzi. There was even a red carpet. Wow.

The chauffeur had opened the back door for them all, telling Cas that he would be standing by for when they needed him afterwards. Cas bent his head to say something in the man's ear, but the atmosphere was too noisy, so Gail didn't hear what he'd said. She was amused to see that Cas then shook the driver's hand, slipping him a tip at the same time. Smooth. She wondered which TV show or movie he'd picked that up from.

Cas stepped out of the car, extending his hand to help Gail out of it. The only long gown she'd ever worn had been at their wedding, and she wasn't too confident she could get out of the car in this one without looking too awkward, so she was grateful for the help. She also wasn't used to walking in heels. How did women do that on a regular basis? But he had a firm grip on her hand, and once she swung her legs out of the back seat, he put his arm around her waist and helped her stand the rest of the way. Then, he threaded her arms through his, and they stood by and waited for the others to emerge.

Sam and Quinn were next, and then Dean and Nicole. As the limousine drove away, the couples started making their way along the red carpet towards the theatre.

Suddenly, groups of girls descended on the men, asking for selfies. As their dates watched, highly amused, Sam and Dean and Cas were obliged to stop for photos with fans. After several attempts to explain that they weren't who the girls thought they were, they'd given up and gone with it, when it was obvious that no one was listening. There were a few fans who realized the difference once they got close up to the men, but most of them were presumably too excited and too star struck to notice the difference.

Then, just when the ladies thought it couldn't get any funnier, a female Access Hollywood-type corralled the three of them for an interview.

"So, how do you feel about 'the little show that could' finally making it to the big screen?" she asked Sam.

He'd thought about telling her that she had the wrong guys, but, gentleman that he was, Sam didn't want to embarrass the poor woman in front of all these people. So he said, "Great. We feel great."

Hmm. Not exactly a sparkling conversationalist, the reporter thought. But what else would you expect from men like these? She'd tried to watch one of their TV shows prior to this assignment, and she could barely stomach it. Vampires? Werewolves? It was obvious that these men were not in their teens, or even in their 20s anymore. Yet the subject matter of their show was juvenile, and the vast majority of the fans here were very young girls, although there were some matronly types, too. The young girls were obviously under the impression that they stood some kind of a chance with these guys, while the older women probably just wanted to feed them. Although, when she had delved a little further into the subject, the reporter had found that there were entire subsets of fans, the largest group of which seemed to be straight women of an indeterminate age who somehow, inexplicably, wanted to see the characters of Castiel and Dean thrown together in highly sexual situations. And still others wanted the brothers to be sexually involved with each other. She had shaken her head slowly, wondering where these notions had come from, and why they seemed to be so important to these women. If it was up to her, the reporter would just as soon fantasize about herself with one or two of these guys. Maybe all three, if she was feeling particularly adventurous that night. But, each to their own, she supposed.

"What did you enjoy the most about making this movie?" she asked Dean.

"The action scenes, of course," he answered her. Dean thought it was hilarious that she had mistaken them for the actors. He hoped this interview was on TV somewhere. Hopefully, Frank would see it.

Of course, the reporter thought. From what she had seen, this guy was behaving pretty much like his character. He was smiling at all the girls, apparently basking in all the attention. He sure was good-looking, though. If he could check his ego at the door, he would be welcome in her bedroom any time.

Then she turned to Cas. She'd heard about this guy. Nobody ever knew quite what to expect with him. He could be helping to build schools for poverty-stricken children and talking about his role as an Angel one minute, and then swearing and full of sexual innuendo the next. But now, as she looked in his eyes, she saw only kindness and bemusement there, but none of the latter qualities. Too bad; there was nothing sexier than a handsome, blue-eyed man in a tuxedo. But all three of these men had come down the carpet with women on their arms; presumably, their wives. The three women were standing off to the side watching, talking and laughing amongst themselves. They were probably quite used to this.

"What do you think will be the reaction of various religious groups around the world to the movie?" the reporter asked Cas.

"I would hope that they would realize that this is just a movie," Cas replied. "But to be honest, I don't understand why anyone would be upset about it."

"You don't?" she said, surprised. "Not to be a spoiler here, but your character, who is an Angel, brings down the Plagues of Egypt on a bunch of innocent people. Yet you don't see how that might offend religious groups?"

Cas's jaw clenched. "That had to be done. Believe me, if there was any other way we could have gotten that Tablet, I would not have done those terrible things. I have to live with that every day."

Crap. They'd better get Cas out of there before he started telling them all about the election for God that was going to take place in Heaven, Dean thought. Not to mention potentially giving away the plots of future movies. He clapped a hand on his Angel friend's shoulder. "Come on, 'Cas', don't go giving away the farm," Dean said jovially. "These folks haven't even seen the movie, yet. Sorry. He's a method actor. It was nice talking to you," he said to the reporter, and he steered Cas away from her.

The men rejoined the women and then suddenly, there was a flurry of activity and a rush of excitement coming from back where they had gotten out of the limousine. "Those must be the REAL stars of the movie," Sam said, grinning.

"Come on, let's hurry up and take our seats," Nicole said. "We're all sitting upstairs in the balcony. We want to make sure and be seated before those guys, 'cause as soon as they're seated, they'll start the movie."

"Any chance of getting some popcorn on our way in?" Dean asked her.

"Sorry, but it's not that kind of a screening," she told him. "No beer, no popcorn, no catcalling from the cheap seats. I have to work with these people." She started to walk into the theatre, and Dean made a face behind her. "I saw that," Nicole told him.

"How could you see that? I was behind you," he protested.

"Never mind, I know you, Dean Winchester," she shot back.

"I was only gonna see if I could toss a piece of popcorn from the balcony and have it land on one of those guys' perfectly blow-dried heads," Dean teased her.

A short while later, everyone was settled in the theatre. The lights went down, and the movie began. But there was a surprise right off the bat: before the opening credits had even begun, there was a picture of Metatron on the screen, with an inscription saying "In Memoriam". The brothers looked at Cas, astonished. "I'll tell you about it later," he said softly.

Then, the principal actors' credits came up on the screen, with a close-up for each one over the music, and the fans cheered the appearance of each one, even Crowley. There was a buzz of excitement in the room as the film began, which continued all throughout the screening. The movie was everything a good blockbuster should be. Action, humour, suspense; it ticked all the boxes. There were a few discrepancies, of course. Cas felt that the character of Ibrahim was portrayed a little too stereotypically, and near the end of the movie, they had his own character touching a staff to the waters of the canal, infecting the water with a poison that Sam had then inadvertently partaken of. But that hadn't been altogether surprising as a plot twist, because Metatron had told them that it was coming, on their final set visit. But in real life, Cas didn't have that ability, and he didn't own a staff. Who did they think he was, anyway? Moses? The Staff of Moses was sitting safely in the annex of the weapons room of Heaven, as it should be. Cas ought to know; he and Gabriel had seen it there just recently, leaning up against the wall, when they had retrieved Gabriel's horn prior to reviving Dean. And Cas would certainly not poison any waters without first cautioning his friends not to drink of it. But he understood the notions of cliffhangers and of artistic license, so he said nothing. Otherwise, though, he was very impressed. Metatron had done a very good job in representing what it had been like in Egypt. And as for Lucifer's escape, well, Metatron had had a front-row seat for that particular escapade, hadn't he?

Gail was enthralled. Even though her character wasn't in the movie, it was bringing back a lot of good memories for her. The size and scope of the scenery was breathtaking on the big screen, and so were the principal actors. She had to keep reminding herself that wasn't Cas up there, because the actor who played him was also so good-looking.

Dean must have sensed what she was thinking, because at one point when Cas's character had a lot of close-ups, Dean leaned across Cas towards Gail and said, "Man, is that guy ugly."

"Put away the mirror, Dean," she retorted tartly, and he grinned.

Cas took her hand and gave it a squeeze. He bent his head down until it was touching hers. "I can't wait until the next movie," he said in her ear. "I'm really looking forward to the wedding scene. And to the wedding night scene, too."

Gail smiled. "That'll be surreal, won't it?" she said softly. "Although, I'm glad you don't work for them anymore, 'cause there's no way I could ever let you do THAT with another woman. Even if it is just pretend."

"I can't wait to do it with you, tonight," he said to her. "You look so beautiful."

She lifted her head and Cas kissed her on the mouth. Then, since it was dark, he poked his tongue out and licked her lips, just for a moment.

"Will you two quit it?" Dean said irritably. "Act like a normal married couple for a change, will you?"

"We are, Dean," Cas said mildly. "We're in love."

Dean threw his hands up in frustration, and when Nicole shushed Dean a moment later, Gail had to exercise a great deal of self-control to keep from laughing. Still, she supposed he had a point. She straightened up and resumed watching the movie, and so did Cas. But, he kept a hold of her hand.

All too soon, the film was over. Richard had gone with the cliffhanger ending, but he had also tacked on a couple of preview scenes from the next movie at the end of this one that surprised the group. Actually, they weren't so much scenes, as flashes of the characters in certain situations. There was a flash of Sam, drinking the poisoned water and developing dark cracks in his skin. Then there was a shot of Castiel in blue jeans and a blue shirt, and he was holding hands with a short, dark-haired woman with big, dark eyes. Then their characters looked into each other's eyes and then they kissed, and the fans in the theatre went crazy, clapping and cheering. Cas squeezed Gail's hand and they exchanged glances, smiling. Metatron had told them that their romance was going to be part of the next movie, and he had already written a couple of scenes that described their fictional first meeting and established their relationship. Gail was happy to see that the actress they had picked looked somewhat like her, although she felt that the girl was much prettier, of course.

The next preview shot was of Sam and Crowley, and Crowley was telling Sam that in order for them to get rid of Lucifer, Dean would have to die. Then there were a couple of flashes of what appeared to be a Hunter's funeral, and the characters of Sam and Castiel were pictured, crying. The audience gasped. But then, Bobby appeared on screen suddenly, saying, "It don't end here, Sam. No. No way. Actually, it's just beginning." The audience cheered again, and they began to applaud. Bobby hadn't been in the first movie because his character was dead, but Richard had obviously wanted to bring him back, knowing that he was a fan favourite. Even Cas and Gail hadn't seen that one coming. Wait until they told Bobby.

Then there was a voice-over, telling the audience that the next movie would be coming soon, and then it was over. The credits started to roll, and some of the people began to get up, although most of them remained seated. Nicole said, "I want to see my name in the credits," so their group remained seated. Then, when the credits were done, the house lights came on, and everyone stood to leave. The fans and many of the movie's crew broke out into spontaneous applause, and they could hear the hum of the fans, talking excitedly about what they had just seen.

"It's about time Cas got a girlfriend," Gail heard one of the fans around them say, and she smiled. But then another girl said, "Yeah, that's because they're too chicken to make Destiel canon."

Dean looked at Sam, puzzled. "Cannon?" he said to his brother. "What the hell does a cannon have to do with anything?" Sam shrugged. He didn't know, either.

Nicole and Gail laughed. "Boy, do you guys have a lot to learn," Dean's girlfriend told them.

Cas was smiling too, at least until the fan continued, "That's OK. I'm gonna write a fanfic about Cas and Dean and that new girl, all together. It'll be hot, and it'll make the hetfic people happy, too."

Cas looked at the girl, frowning, and then he looked at Dean with narrowed eyes. "What?" Dean said irritably. Cas was looking at him like HE'D suggested the idea.

"Let's go," Sam said, taking Quinn by the hand. He was extremely amused now. They should see the looks on their faces.

Then the first female fan they had overheard turned to the second one and said, "Well, I'm happy they gave Cas a girlfriend. Now I can go back to writing Wincest fic."

Sam's face fell. Gail had told him what that meant, a while back. These girls had to be kidding with that. He and Dean were brothers, for God's sake.

Gail was looking at all of the guys' faces as the various couplings were discussed by the fans filing out of the theatre, and she was laughing. These guys had no idea. Some day when she wanted to freak them all out, she was going to download a few of those stories, and make them look. They had no clue what lurked on those sites. Every kind of sexual situation, position, and predilection was represented, except for tentacle porn, maybe. Maybe even that. People wrote crossover fiction, too.

But she was pleased that the producers had seen fit to include her and Cas's story in the franchise. As they waited for the other members of the audience to move into the aisle, Gail turned to her husband. "I loved seeing 'us' kiss on the big screen," she told him, smiling.

"Me, too," Cas agreed. He leaned down to kiss her lightly on the lips.

"Yeah, great," Dean said sarcastically. "Now you guys can gross us out on the big screen, too. In technicolour."

"I still think the premise of Cas having a girlfriend is too far-fetched," Sam joked.

"I agree," one of the girls said to him. She looked up at Sam's face, and then at Cas and Dean, and did a comic double-take. But then she shook it off. Any real fan would be able to tell that these guys were just wanna-bes.

"But I liked the idea, anyway," the girl said to Sam. "What I didn't like was that it looks like they're going to kill Dean."

"I know, right?" Dean said to her. "What kind of dick move is that, killing your own brother?"

Sam frowned, but the girl looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" she asked Dean. Then she gasped, and her eyes widened. So THAT was why these guys looked so much like the actors. They must be their body doubles. "Do you know what happens in the next movie?" she asked them excitedly. Then she gasped again. "Does Crowley mean that SAM has to kill Dean? Oh, my God!"

Nicole had noticed the downtrodden look on Sam's face now, and she poked Dean sharply in the ribs, gesturing to his brother. "Sorry, man," Dean said, and Sam nodded in acknowledgement. "It's OK, dude," he said to Dean, and then he gave his brother a thin smile. "I should mark this date in red on the calendar. You actually apologized for something."

"Yeah, well, don't get too used to it," Dean retorted.

"I can't wait!" one of the girls they'd been talking to exclaimed. "I need that movie out, now!"

"I hope everyone else feels that same way," Nicole said, smiling. "I'd like to keep my job for a while."

"I'm glad Bobby is coming back," the girl's companion said. "I cried when he died."

"I know," her girlfriend agreed. "Me too. That was the saddest death ever."

"And I wonder what was up with that scene at the end, the one with Cas standing in a field, holding his arms out? Then, in the next shot, there was a big tidal wave coming. What the hell was THAT all about?" the first girl said. "He could never do stuff like that before."

"I know," the other fan said. "And he looked mad, too."

"Well, of course he looked mad. They're killing off his boyfriend," Sam said, snickering. Dean shot him a glare.

"They're not trying to make Cas a bad guy, I hope," the second girl remarked.

The first girl gasped again. "Maybe he's going to be God!"

Gail smiled, giving Cas's hand a squeeze. "From your lips," she murmured.

"All I know is that the suspense is killing me!" another girl said excitedly, and the fans all nodded.

"Maybe that's a good sign," Gail said softly to her husband. "Maybe that was Metatron's way of saying you'll win the election. He was right about everything else."

And it was true. After she and Cas had visited the women's shelter in Vancouver, their final errand had been to go to Metatron's apartment there. They'd discussed the situation and decided that the people who worked on the movie and who were depending on "Ted" to write the next script would need closure, so that they could go ahead and hire someone else to continue writing the movies. So Cas had composed a note stating that "Ted" was terminally ill, and that he was going away. He was very sorry, but he would be unable to finish the script for the next movie. Cas and Gail had skimmed over the pages that Metatron had written for the second film, and he had it all in there: Sam killing Dean, Dean's funeral, Cas and Gail arguing, and then going back to Creation. The latter two plot points had surprised the couple. How could Metatron have known about the revival spell? As far as they'd known, he had been stumped as to how he was going to bring Dean back in the movie. But Metatron was an original Prophet; perhaps he'd foreseen those events. Or maybe he'd snuck a look at the last page of Rowena's spell book when Cas and Gail had been held captive in that cabin, and filed that knowledge away for future reference.

But whatever the case might be on that score, they had wanted to make sure that Richard knew that "Ted" would not be coming back. Hopefully, whoever they got to write the scripts going forward would have a good handle on the characters, and the complex storylines.

They finally made it outside the theatre, and through the crowds to the sidewalk. "Hey, Cas, where's the limo?" Dean asked his friend.

"We have another surprise," Cas told the group. "Frank and Jody have planned an 'after-party', as I believe it's called, for us, back at the bunker. If it's all right with you, Nicole and Quinn, Gail and I will pop us all over there, and you can have some refreshments and tell them all about the movie. Then we'll bring you back here to our hotel, afterwards."

Quinn and Nicole looked at each other, smiling. They told him it was fine with them.

"Hi, Nicole. Cas, I'm glad you could all make it," Richard said, approaching them. "What did you think of the movie?"

"It was wonderful," Cas replied. He put his arm around Gail. "We loved it. And we're especially looking forward to the next one, for obvious reasons."

Richard smiled. "You won't be disappointed. The pages that Ted left us with were very well-written in that regard." Then his smile faded. "It's too bad about Ted, though. I hope, if he sees the movie wherever he is now, he won't be upset that we put that little placard up at the beginning. But I just thought he should be acknowledged, before it was too late. He's an incredible talent. He'll be missed." There was a moment's silence, and then Richard's expression brightened. "But, on the bright side, Aurora told me about your visit to the shelter, and your donation. Ted made a generous donation when he was there, as well. I guess I know why, now. Anyway, thanks for your continued support, Cas. It makes a big difference."

"We were just about to head back home for a celebration party," Cas told the producer. "Would you like to join us for a drink?"

Richard opened his mouth, about to demur, and then he thought about it for a moment. "You know what?" he found himself saying. "Why not? It'll have to be a quick one, though. As long as you can teleport me back here in half an hour or so. I'm expected at our own after-party, here in Hollywood. And then I have to fly back to Vancouver early tomorrow morning for the first of many meetings about the next installment. We'll have to hire a new scriptwriter, of course, among other things." He looked at Nicole. "And you'll be glad to know that you'll be getting help. We'll be looking to hire at least one more stylist, if not two. And another wardrobe person, as well. So you'll have a staff to manage, soon."

Nicole's jaw dropped. "I will?"

"Oops. Spoiler alert," Richard said, smiling. "You did a terrific job, Nicole. All the guys said so. And I know we really overwhelmed you there, at the end. But once Brenda disappeared and then Zoey quit while the film was on hiatus, you were the last woman standing. But you got everything done when we needed for it to be done, and you never once complained. This is our way of saying thank you. We'll come up with a new title for you, and a raise, of course."

"Thanks, Richard," Nicole said delightedly. "Drinks are on me, then," she quipped to the group.

"Well, have fun tonight, because we'll be leaving for Rome in a couple of days," the producer told her. "Until we can get a new writer, we're going to shoot the pages we have." He smiled at Cas and Gail. "I really think the two of you are going to like the story arc. And we wanted to strike while the iron was hot. From everything we can tell, these movies are not just going to be hits, they're going to be blockbusters. We're releasing this one in limited run in test cities, and already the demand for tickets has been so strong that we're adding more and more cities as we go. I've had reports of people driving in from other cities and even other states because there wasn't a screening in their home city. That's a very good sign."

Gail shivered suddenly, and Cas's arm tightened around her. He berated himself. It was quite chilly out now, and it had been cool outside when they'd first arrived here. None of the women had any wraps. He took off his jacket immediately and draped it over Gail's shoulders, and Dean did the same thing with Nicole. Sam started to unbutton his, but Quinn waved him off.

"I'm going to take the ladies back into the theatre and discreetly teleport us all to the bunker," Cas told Richard. "Do you want to come with us?"

"I need to talk to a couple of people first," Richard told the Angel. "Can you come back in, say, ten minutes?"

Cas and Gail winked their human friends over to the bunker. Frank, Jody, Rob and Chuck were there. Cas had called ahead to Chuck on Angel Radio letting him know they were coming, so the men were bringing out platters of food to the library table when they got there, and there was already a bar set up.

"Why is it that every time I come here, women are ordering me to carry stuff around?" Chuck was grumbling good-naturedly.

"Because you like it," Jody said tartly. "Now, go back to the kitchen and put some of those appetizers in the microwave."

For a split second, Chuck considered telling Jody that just because she was ravenously hungry all the time, that didn't mean that everyone else was, too. But then he remembered that there were a number of Angel blades down the hall in the weapons room, and he closed his mouth with a snap, rushing to do her bidding.

Jody approached the couples, smiling. "Putting on a party is a lot of hard work," she quipped.

"I have never been prouder to call you my sister-in-law," Gail stated, smirking.

"Congratulations," Nicole said to Jody. "Gail told us your good news."

"Thanks," Jody said, her smile widening. "Although, part of me thinks I'm nuts to be expecting, at my age."

"Oh, come on. What are you, like, a hundred?" Frank said, rolling his eyes. He put his arms around his wife and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Quit talking about your age. It's just a number."

"Sure, when you don't have to deal with the backaches and morning sickness, you can say stuff like that," she grumbled good-naturedly. "But at least, the nausea is subsiding a little. Now I'm into the stage where I have weird food cravings. So if you see me putting some chocolate sauce on a chicken leg, don't be surprised."

As the others were making faces, trying to cope with that disgusting mental image, Cas gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll be right back," he told her. "I have to go and get Richard."

"Oh. Well then, you should take your jacket," she said quickly, taking it off and handing it back to him.

"Holy Moly," Chuck said, looking at the neckline of Gail's dress.

"That's what I said, when I tried it on!" Gail exclaimed.

Chuck was trying not to stare. "That's quite the dress, Gail," he remarked.

Cas shrugged his jacket on. "Now I'm not so sure that I should go," he quipped, looking at Chuck. "Frank, make sure Chuck behaves himself while I'm gone, will you?"

"Why don't I just give you a sweater to put on, or something?" Frank said to his sister. "Geez, kiddo, if that neckline was any lower, the movie might not be the only thing that's making its debut in public tonight."

Gail wasn't sure whether she should laugh or be annoyed. So she settled for kissing Cas on the cheek. He popped out, and Gail gave Frank a momentary glare, then introduced Quinn to Chuck and Rob.

Rob was looking at Quinn with interest. "You're the psychic, right?" he asked her.

"That's right, Rob," she said pleasantly.

"And you make a living out of it?" he persisted.

Her smile faltered a little. "Yeah, I suppose I do."

"Hmm," Rob said coolly.

While the two of them were taking each other's measure, Gail was looking at Chuck. "I'm glad you're here," she told their Angel friend. "Cas has gone to get the producer of the movie, and I want the two of you to meet."

Chuck's eyes darted around, but Sam and Dean were loading up plates of food now, and they didn't seem to be listening. "Yeah? Why is that?" Chuck asked Gail.

"Because, with Metatron gone, they're looking for another script writer," she told him. "I want you to go up to the library and get that script I know you've been writing, and bring it back down here, and show it to him."

Chuck looked startled, and then he started to shake his head. "No, I couldn't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not very good," Chuck said softly. "I was just goofing around, trying my hand at writing a few scenes. But it's not nearly good enough to show to somebody like that."

"Either you go and get it, or I will," Gail insisted. "I'm not taking no for an answer. We need somebody who knows what they're doing to write those scripts. I don't want my fate left to a total stranger."

Chuck sighed. "OK, I'll show it to him. But he'll probably think it's garbage."

Gail let out a frustrated breath. Chuck. He raised self-deprecation to an art form, sometimes. "I doubt he will. But even if he does, you're no worse off, are you? Now, go."

Chuck popped out, and then a minute later he returned, just ahead of Cas and Richard.

Richard looked around the room, intrigued. This place looked almost exactly like the bunker in the stories, and the show. OK, this was getting more than a little weird. Cas and Gail were Angels, and Sam and Dean were brothers, who lived in a bunker that was pretty much a dead ringer for the one on his show. He'd suspected for a long time that there was more to this situation than met the eye.

Cas introduced Richard to Frank and Jody and Rob, then steered their friend over to the bar. "I'm sorry your wife couldn't be here," Cas said to Richard. "I would have liked to have finally met her."

"I would have liked that too, Cas," Richard said, making himself a drink, "but she's out of town visiting her sister. She's pretty sick."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Cas said, frowning. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Unless Angels can cure cancer, I'm afraid not," Richard said, sighing. Then he looked at Cas more closely. "You can't, can you?"

"I'm sorry, no. We can't," Cas replied.

Richard nodded. "Anyway, I didn't mean to bring down the room. I just wanted to explain why my wife wasn't here. But, she told me to go ahead to the premiere and have fun." He took a sip of his drink, still looking around the room with interest. "It's like the set designer was here when he drew up the plans," Richard said admiringly. "Remarkable." He took another sip. "You know, truthfully, I'd rather just stay here for a while and check this place out a bit more. I get the feeling there are a lot of interesting stories here. And you all seem like very nice, genuine people. Much like the folks I work with. The cast and crew are all good people, who do a lot for disadvantaged people both in our community, and all over the world. But there are so many of those Hollywood types back there where we just left, who just want to schmooze you for what you can do for them. I kind of miss the old days, in a way, when we were just a fledgling TV show. Now that we're experiencing some success on a bigger level, the users and hangers-on are already coming out of the woodwork. And the groupies? Those young girls that hang around the sets, thinking the actors are going to leave their wives and marry them? It's unbelievable. If I have one more person I barely know ask me a favour..."

Oh, crap, Chuck thought. He had the script pages in his hand, and he'd just about worked up the nerve to approach Richard with them. Now, he hid them behind his back.

Gail saw that, but there was no way she was going to let her friend miss his opportunity. "You remember our friend Chuck, don't you, Richard?" she said, pulling Chuck forward by his arm. "He's got something to show you."

"No, I don't," Chuck protested.

"Yes, you do," she argued.

Richard was looking at both of them curiously. Chuck sighed, bringing out the pages. "Gail seems to think that you might be interested in these scenes I wrote. But you probably aren't," Chuck said, hanging his head. "I'm sure they're not very good."

"Chuck!" Gail exclaimed. "He's a good writer, Richard. He just lacks self-confidence. Give him the pages, Chuck."

Richard took the pages, saying nothing. "It's OK if you'd rather not read them," Chuck said quietly. Gail hit him on the arm. "Stop it," she admonished him. She looked at Cas for support. "Isn't Chuck a good writer, Cas?"

"Yes, he's very good," Cas replied automatically. Quite frankly, Cas really had no idea. But he wanted to support his wife supporting their friend, and Richard did need a new writer for the movies, after all. If the producer didn't like what Chuck had written, all he had to do was say so. But now, the same thing occurred to Cas that had occurred to his wife earlier: the films could really benefit from the first-hand knowledge of someone who was involved in their world. And who better than the writer of the original Supernatural book series to carry on Metatron's legacy?

Richard was looking at the papers now. He put his empty glass down on the table and started shuffling through the pages, scanning them intently.

A minute went by, then another, and Chuck was really nervous now. Did the producer like what he was reading, or was he just humouring them? "I just thought, you know, now that Metatron is dead, you might want someone else to write the stories from an insider's point of view," Chuck babbled.

Richard looked up at him sharply. "Huh? What are you talking about? What do you mean by that, Chuck?"

Cas's heart sank. Chuck should not have said that. Now Richard was looking at them like they were all crazy, or like Richard himself was. Cas looked at Chuck, who appeared properly chagrined. No one on the film's staff was supposed to know that "Ted" had actually been Metatron, and that he'd been an otherworldly being. There had been no need for them to know those things, especially not now.

Crap. Chuck hadn't really been thinking when he'd said that. He'd just been riffing, filling the edgy silence while he'd been waiting for Richard to tell him that he was a hack who had no business trying to write. But Chuck had better not say that thought aloud, or Gail would get angry at him again. Laurel was the same way. Whenever Chuck was overly critical of himself, Laurel would get mad. But he didn't mind, because he knew that meant that she liked him.

But, when Chuck thought about it, did it really matter? Richard had been to Cas and Gail's wedding, and the guy was here now, seeing the bunker. It's not like he didn't already have a pretty good clue what they were all about.

Cas sighed. He and Gail had made a point of leaving that note in Metatron's apartment, and Cas had also sent Richard a quick e-mail from Metatron's computer, telling Richard about it, as a back-up. Not only did what they had done provide closure for the movie's staff, but it had protected "Ted's" true identity. Gail had remarked that, because he had saved her life, she had wanted to preserve Metatron's reputation with his employers.

Richard was staring at them all, open-mouthed. "Are you telling me that this is all real?" he asked them, astonished. "Are you actually the characters from 'Supernatural'? Was 'Ted' the same jerk who escaped from Heaven's jail, and caused the Angels to fall?"

Cas frowned. "Yes, Richard. Yes, to all of it. But he achieved redemption through his writing in the end, and he made his atonements." He took Gail's hand, looking at her face. "We forgave him for his transgressions."

"He went out as clean as he could, considering all the crap he pulled over the years," Dean added.

"It's a long and complicated story," Sam piped up. "But, anticipating your next question, Metatron's scripts tell it like it really happened, all the way down to him dying a hero in the next script, during that confrontation we all had with Lucifer."

"It's pretty clear now that Metatron didn't expect to come out of that battle alive," Cas said, picking up the thread. "So apparently, he wrote that scene as he expected that it would play out. Aside from being the Scribe of God, he was the original Prophet as well, so I guess he predicted his own demise."

There was silence for a moment, and then Dean raised his glass. "To Metatron," he said, and everyone who had a drink in their hand answered his toast.

But Richard was still looking at everyone in astonishment. "So, you're telling me that the books that we based our show on in the first place? The cornerstone of our entire franchise? They were written by Metatron?"

"Nope. They were written by me," Chuck told him. "I'm THAT Chuck." He looked down at his feet. "I used to be an evil douche, just like Metatron. So that just goes to show there's hope for just about anyone, if they truly want to change. And isn't that the underlying theme of these stories, really? That there's always hope? And that with love, anything's possible?"

Richard was impressed by what Chuck was saying. "Yes, that's what we're trying to convey, at least from my viewpoint. That's why we employ only positive, life-affirming people on the production, from the techies all the way up to the principal actors. That, and the importance of family. Our fandom even call themselves the 'SPN family'. You know, many people on the periphery of our show look at it on the surface, and they only see the blood and the monsters and the Demons. But there's a lot more to it than that, and the people who consider themselves the SPN family, the real one, they recognize that."

"Yeah," Chuck agreed, pleased that Richard felt the same way about his writings as he did himself. Chuck shot a look at Sam and Dean. Even they hadn't gotten what he'd been trying to say when he'd originally started writing those books. Even though he'd been a real piece of work back then, Chuck had still had a sliver of decency and optimism in him. "That's the kind of thing my writings speak to. At the risk of sounding like a big fat cliche, I feel like hope is a light in the darkness, and there can always be a second chance, for all of us."

"I agree," Cas said. "We are always offered a second chance: It's called tomorrow."

"Dammit! That's good!" Chuck exclaimed. "I'm gonna use that."

"Fine," Cas said, his lips twitching. "If you do, just make sure you give me proper credit. Isn't that how things work in the movie business, Richard?"

Richard was a little taken aback by Cas's sense of humour, but then, he smiled. "Yes, Cas, that's right," he replied.

Cas looked at Chuck again. "That's C-A-S-T-I-E-L."

Everyone laughed, and Richard said, "Don't tell me you're going all Hollywood on us, now that you've been in a movie, Cas."

"He might be," Sam said, grinning. "He even bought designer sunglasses when we were at the Walk of Fame the other day."

"That was just because his beautiful blue eyes were outshining all the stars on the sidewalk," Gail said lovingly, and Cas have her hand a squeeze.

"Hey, maybe if that other project you guys are working on doesn't pan out, Cas could be an actor," Dean joked. He gave Chuck a look. THAT'S how to be discreet, Dean's look said. He was talking about the election, of course, but Richard had probably had enough shocks for one night. "We all know Cas can play a lot of different parts," he added.

"No way," Gail said, shaking her head and smiling. "We already talked about that. The only person he'll be doing any love scenes with is ME." She turned around and poked Chuck in the chest. "And if you get hired, you'd better make sure Cas's wife is a strong female character," she told him.

"Keep it up, and she'll get killed off in the next movie," Chuck retorted, and they shared a laugh.

"As much as I would love to stay here and find out about all the other things you're not telling me, I'd better get back," Richard said to Cas. He looked at Chuck. "I'll give these pages a good read. Uh...how can I contact you, Chuck?"

Chuck gave the producer his cell phone number, and Richard shook his head, bemused. Angels with cell phones, writing movie scripts. Sam and Dean Winchester, real-life Hunters, living in an actual bunker. On second thought, maybe he DIDN'T want to know what they weren't telling him. His mind was blown enough, as it was. "I'll call you, Chuck," Richard told the Angel. "Thanks for this." He waggled the manuscript, said goodbye to everyone, and then Cas took him by the arm, winking him back to Hollywood.

Gail was smiling at Chuck. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

He smiled weakly. That guy was probably going to read what Chuck had written, have a good laugh, and then call Chuck and thank him for said good laugh. But Chuck was actually glad that Gail had pushed him into giving his manuscript to Richard, anyway. He said, "Hey, if he doesn't want my ideas, maybe I can go back to writing my books."

Frank looked at Chuck. "So, if you do that, are you going to write your books the same way everybody else does, or are you going to use a more novel approach?"

Jody sighed. "I'm tired, and my feet are killing me. Can somebody else please hit him for me?"

But Gail was laughing. "Sorry, Jody, but that was actually pretty funny," Frank's sister said.

"Oh, for God's sake, don't encourage him," Jody moaned. She plopped down into one of the chairs and kicked her shoes off.

However, now that Frank had made Gail laugh once, he zeroed in on his prey. He approached his sister and said, "Hemmina ha heh."

Everyone else was puzzled, but Gail burst out laughing.

"What did you say?" Sam asked Frank. "Was that even English?"

"That's just it: nobody knows!" Frank said happily. "That was Bob Dylan's latest song! 'Hemmina he heh'."

"Stop it, you're killing me!" Gail exclaimed. She burst into another fit of giggles.

Cas popped into the room. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"We're not really sure," Dean said. "Something about Bob Dylan."

"How the hell does a guy win a Nobel Prize for Literature, of all things, when nobody has any idea what he's even saying?" Sam asked, somewhat rhetorically. "Frank and I were talking about that just the other day."

"Exactly!" Frank said excitedly. "That's the beauty of it! He could be saying anything! It could either be pearls of wisdom, or it could be nonsensical caveman grunts! Who knows? Quick, Sam, compose something unintelligible, so we can make millions of dollars."

"Sorry, if you're looking for monosyllabic caveman grunts, that's Dean's department," Sam quipped.

"Huh? Hey!" Dean objected.

"See?" Sam said, grinning.

Gail wiped her eyes, composing herself. Frank wasn't playing fair. When they were growing up, his Bob Dylan imitation had never failed to crack her up. Cas still appeared confused, but he smiled at the easy banter between his family members, anyway. What a joyous evening this had turned out to be.

"Who wants another drink?" Dean asked.


	6. Stormy Weather

Chapter 6 - Stormy Weather

Patricia walked into Cas's campaign office in Heaven. Riley stood up from his desk to greet her. "Hello, Patricia," he said respectfully. "Can I help you?"

"I want to talk to Castiel," she said bluntly.

"I'm afraid he's not in, right now," Riley told her, his heart sinking into his stomach. "May I take a message?"

"Where is he?" she asked brusquely.

"With all due respect, Ma'am, I don't think I'm required to tell you that," Riley replied nervously. "I can assure you, I'll pass along any message you have for him, and he will get back to you promptly."

"He's on Earth, isn't he?" Patricia asked, her eyes narrowing.

Riley said nothing, because he didn't know what to say. But that was answer enough, wasn't it?

Patricia began to smile. She had known exactly where Castiel and Gail were, and what they were doing. Becky had told her, after Chuck had mentioned it to the young Angel. That empty-headed little simp of a girl was turning out to be a veritable fund of information. But just in case Becky's intelligence, for lack of a better word, failed her, Patricia also had a couple of other young Angels who were currently working in her own campaign office who were more than eager to serve.

"Wish Castiel good luck in the election, if you can tear him away from his humans for long enough," Patricia said sarcastically. "He's going to need it." Then she turned on her heel and left the office.

Two days after the movie premiere, Adrian was sitting on a stool in the lab, watching Dr. Exeter operate the centrifuge. The good doctor was mixing up another dose of the formula for the daily injection.

General Greene's mind wandered back to a few days ago, when he had first broached the subject. He had taken the agreement to Legal after his conversation with his colleagues and had it drawn up and witnessed by General Tanaka, who was his second-in-command. Adrian had also made out his Will at the same time, and he had ensured that his Will made reference to that very same agreement, so there could be no chance of the Army reneging. Then he had locked his copies of both documents in the credenza in his office and walked down to the lab with the other two Generals.

Dr. Exeter had been standing by with a sample of the formula that he was waiting to run through the centrifuge to dilute it. As it was their first time trying the substance out on a human guinea pig, he had decided that it was a good idea to thin it out first. General Greene had sat down on the stool and rolled up his sleeve, as the other Officers watched in fascination.

"Are you OK, Adrian?" General Sizemore asked him. "Are you sure you're ready to do this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Adrian said calmly. "Now that I know that my family will be well provided for if anything goes wrong, I'm prepared for whatever the outcome may be."

The other men exchanged incredulous glances. If anything went wrong? They were about to introduce a strange substance that had come from an otherworldly being with unknown powers into the man's bloodstream. How the hell did he think this was going to play out? But he was the ranking Officer, and Legal had had him sign waiver after waiver of liability. This was more than likely going to end up being a suicide mission. But the potential upside of having a possible weapon like this at their disposal was just too strong to ignore.

Still, better him than them. General Greene's colleagues were curious about why he would volunteer himself to be the guinea pig, though. He could just as easily have ordered a man of a much lower rank to do it, or they could have called over to the Penitentiary, and spoken to the Warden there. It wouldn't have been the first time. Or, if he'd been concerned about the Clearance Level, the General could even have ordered one of them to do it, presenting that man with a very difficult decision.

So the doctor had injected Adrian with a small dose of the watered-down formula, and they had all stood there, looking at him. "What are you staring at?" Adrian had asked them, after five minutes or so. "Get back to work. If there's anything to report, I'll let you know."

After everyone had gone about their business, Adrian had taken the elevator up to the ground level and stood outside, in the middle of the compound. He cleared his mind and began to concentrate. He visualized a thermometer showing the temperature dropping, and snowflakes falling from the sky. He closed his eyes and stood there, arms outstretched, just like a superhero in one of those comic-book movies. Superman, maybe, or Captain America, using his powers to help his country. But after ten minutes or so, nothing was happening. Perhaps it was too soon. So he had gone back inside to talk to Dr. Exeter. The head of the lab had no idea, either. Maybe he hadn't given Adrian enough of the stuff. So they had agreed to increase the next dose slightly, but the doctor had informed Adrian that he couldn't in good conscience give him another shot until the next day. Not until they knew what the repercussions would be, anyway. They would be checking the General's vitals every time he received a shot, making sure that his body could withstand the substance.

Unbeknownst to the men at the base, that was when the first snowflakes had fallen in Hollywood. Because Adrian had been thinking about movies when he had been visualizing snow, that was where the snow had gone. But because he had received such a low dosage and had given up so quickly, the flurries had stopped almost as soon as they'd begun.

Now, a few days later, Adrian had started to see his first successes. The next time, when he had received the higher dose, he had gone outside again and visualized snow in the desert. And, like manna from Heaven, the snowflakes had started to fall, until there was about an inch of the white stuff on the ground. He'd been thrilled, hurrying downstairs to report what had just occurred. His colleagues had raced topside to observe the phenomenon for themselves. Then they had gone back downstairs to General Sizemore's office and opened a bottle of brandy he'd been saving for a special occasion.

Today, they were going to up the dosage again, and Adrian was going to designate a place in the United States that was far enough away from the base, just to see what he could do at a longer distance. Dr. Exeter was preparing to pour the liquid into the centrifuge to dilute it when General Greene said, "Wait."

The doctor looked at him questioningly, and Adrian said, "Don't dilute it. Give it to me as it is."

Dr. Exeter's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Sir, I'm not sure that's wise-" he started to say, but Adrian shook his head. "That's an order, Doctor," he barked.

Dr. Exeter considered. General Greene was crazy, he thought. Upping the dosage was one thing, but taking a pure sample into his veins like that? Total insanity. But on the other hand, he had received a direct order, and General Greene had signed every waiver of responsibility that the lawyer had put in front of him. So the doctor shrugged, and prepared the syringe.

For his part, Adrian was aware that what he was proposing was extremely risky. But he was riding a peculiar wave of conflicting emotions right now. The first was despair, and a sense of impending urgency. He had discovered a sore on the inside of his cheek this morning, he was feeling extremely fatigued, and he had lost 12 pounds since the diagnosis. And even though the latter two conditions could be ascribed simply to stress, he felt as if time was running out.

The second emotion that he was experiencing was almost diametrically opposite, and it was a direct result of the introduction of an Archangel's essence into his bloodstream. Adrian was starting to feel the power surging through his body, and it was making him feel invincible. Perhaps that was why Archangels were mostly so arrogant, although Adrian would have no way of knowing that, of course. The only one he'd ever met had been Gabriel, and Adrian still had no idea exactly who or what Gabriel even was. And Gabriel was the best of the lot, as far as megalomaniacs went.

So Dr. Exeter had injected the General with the full dosage as ordered, and Adrian was currently waiting for the feeling to kick in, almost like a heroin addict looking for the high. He'd already picked the ideal place to concentrate his power on, and if everything worked to the extent he was hoping, not only would they have a viable and formidable weapon, but he would finally have the opportunity to rid the planet of two of the most disgustedly vile people that God had ever put on it.

He started to smile. This was gonna be fun.

Frank and Rob had been fighting for the better part of an hour now, and they were driving Jody crazy. Actually, if she were to be honest, they had been fighting for the better part of two days, interrupted only by sleep and meal breaks. They had achieved a sort of mutual detente the night of the movie premiere party, but after the three couples had gone back to Hollywood later that night, the battle had resumed.

"Your mother asked you to clean up your room," Frank was saying to Rob angrily.

"Jody's not my mother," Rob shot back. "My mother left this house to take a bus one day, and she never came back."

And while that was true enough, it made Frank's blood boil. There was no reason to hurt Jody's feelings like that. None at all. The kid was just being a little snothead because he didn't want to do one simple chore.

"Don't give me that," Frank fired back. "I'll match you dead parent for dead parent. Your moth- Jody and I both love you very much, but you agreed to help out around here more, and I don't see you lifting a finger. Your room needs a good cleaning. I'll give you one more chance to do it before I go in there with a dump truck and do it myself. And you were going to get a job until the fall, remember? What happened to that plan?"

"You guys have been so busy planning movie parties and shopping for baby stuff that you haven't been around to drive me anywhere," Rob protested.

"Bus stop's right on the corner," Frank said tersely.

"Frank..." Jody started to say, but he looked at her, annoyed. "What? If he's old enough to look for a job, he's old enough to take the bus by himself. I was his age when I was driving myself and Gail all over the country, just trying to keep us both alive."

Rob rolled his eyes. "Oh my God, Dad. Keep telling that story, 'cause that never gets old. 'When I was your age'. Blah, blah, blah. But it's not the same thing. It's not even close. Mark killed Felicia, and then Ammit killed Mark. Your parents were innocent victims. And Gail may be your sister, but she's mine, too, and our dad Vincent killed your parents!" he blurted out.

All three of them stood there, stunned. "Wait, what?" Frank said.

Rob frowned. "Sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I had the feeling there was a lot more to it than we knew about, so when I got Quinn a drink the other night at the party, I acted like I already knew. She confirmed my suspicions. Gail is my half-sister. We have different moms, but Vincent is our father. He's connected somehow with Cathy, that lady who runs the fertility clinic, or whatever you call it. Quinn's pretty sure Cathy used to be married to one of Vincent's brothers. Anyway, apparently, when Vincent fathers a kid he wants to unload, he brings it to Cathy, and she sells it, or adopts it out. That's what happened with Gail, and that's what happened with me. At least your parents wanted YOU."

"And Vincent was the one who killed my parents?" Frank said, dazed. "Not Crowley? Not the Demons? Did Quinn actually say that?"

"Yep," Rob said, nodding. "I get the feeling that she knows all kinds of stuff that she's not talking about."

Frank just stood there, open-mouthed. Incredible. So, did this mean that he owed the King of Hell an apology? Maybe he should go outside and check to see if there were any unicorns prancing down the street, or if pigs were streaking across the sky.

"I'm gonna go clean my room," Rob said glumly, and he stomped upstairs.

Frank and Jody looked at each other. "Come on to the kitchen. I'll make a pot of coffee," she said to her husband.

"You're not supposed to be having too much coffee," Frank said automatically, following her into the kitchen.

"Hey, at this point it's either a cup of coffee, or a large glass of whiskey," Jody grumbled, taking the coffee filters out of the cupboard. "Something's gotta give. You guys and your fighting. You're driving me nuts. You've got to find some common ground, Frank."

"There's only one area of common ground we have, Jodes, and you know what that is," Frank said, sitting down heavily at the kitchen table. He rubbed his face with one hand wearily. "But I thought we'd agreed: we don't want him to train as a Hunter. He was supposed to go to school and do normal teenage stuff."

Jody sighed. "I know, Frank. I know that. But maybe it's not our decision to make. Maybe it's fate, or destiny, or God's Will. Whatever. Just like it was with Sam and Dean, and with you. Did Rob say anything to you about the talk they had with him yesterday?"

"No," Frank said softly. "You know, I really thought that was gonna work. I thought if anybody could get through to him, it would be those two."

"Give it time," Jody said, switching the coffeemaker on to brew. "He's a teenage boy, Frank. Believe it or not, a lot of the attitude he's been giving us is normal behaviour. At least, according to all the articles on parenting I've been reading, anyway." She smiled wryly. "Too bad there's not a guide for parents who are also Hunters. But I guess that's a real niche market. There aren't too many of us." She began to look through the cupboards. "Did you hide the sardines? I know you hate the fishy smell, but I think I'll open a tin, and have some with my cookies. Better still, I'll put them on top of my cookies."

Frank's stomach churned. "Are you sure that's my kid in there, and not some kind of Devil baby?"

"Many people would argue that might be the same thing," Jody said implacably. "And most of those people are in our own family."

"Touche," Frank said, smiling. His wife. Sardines on cookies. Give him strength. But he loved her with all his heart, and she was having his baby. She could eat any damn thing she wanted. "I love you, Jody," he told her.

She turned around to look at him. "I love you too, Frank. Now, get over here and help me find those sardines."

He grinned, rising from his chair.

Rob sat on his bed, brooding. Contrary to what his Dad seemed to think, Rob hated it when they fought. He just couldn't seem to help himself. He just felt so angry all the time.

Yesterday, Jody had kicked them both out of the house, telling them she was sick of listening to them argue, and that she needed some peace and quiet. So Frank had driven them over to the bunker. Sam and Dean had been in the weapons room, cleaning everything and doing inventory. Now that Cas and Gail and Bobby were back in Heaven and Frank was doing the family thing, the brothers were finally going to go back out on the road and work some cases.

Rob had stared at all the weapons with great fascination. Frank saw him looking, and Gail's brother also saw an opportunity. So he had asked Rob to go to the kitchen and get a beer and a soda, and if Rob behaved himself, Frank would let him have a sip of his beer.

While Rob was out of the room, Frank had asked the brothers if they would have a talk with the boy. Then, when Rob returned, Frank gave him a sip of beer as promised and then excused himself to go to the library, ostensibly to look something up on Sam's laptop.

"So, how's it going, Rob?" Dean asked the boy casually. Rob shrugged, and the brothers exchanged glances.

"So, there's gonna be a new baby in the family soon," Sam tried.

"Guess so. Otherwise my Mom is just getting fat and eating weird food," Rob replied. He looked at Dean, who was trying not to smirk. "What's that?" Rob asked, pointing to one of the weapons.

Sam frowned. He decided to be blunt. "Frank tells us you've been acting out, Rob."

The boy shrugged again, and Dean sighed. "What's your problem, Rob?" he said irritably. "You've got it pretty soft, you know."

"You think so?" Rob retorted.

"I know so," Dean fired back. "You've got great parents. We've talked about this before."

"Yeah, we have, and you and Sam had each other, didn't you?" Rob said tartly.

Dean raised an eyebrow. He and Sam looked at each other again. The brothers hadn't overheard Rob's conversation with Quinn at the party, but in that moment, the boy's tone had reminded them so much of Gail when she was being sarcastic that it was eerie.

"Yeah, we did," Dean said in reply, "but our dad was an a-hole in a lot of ways, and our mom was dead. Look, we know you've had it rough, but who hasn't?"

"At least you've got a ton of grownups in your life who are good people," Sam added. "You know your parents love you, and you know that any one of us would help you out if you needed anything. Right?"

"If you ever wanna talk about anything, you can come to us," Dean told Rob. Then he smirked. "Even sex. Actually, especially sex. Your dad's not exactly a ladies' man."

"Naaah, I know all about that stuff," Rob said, the corners of his mouth turning up now.

"You do, do you?" Sam said, breaking into a grin. "Well then, maybe you could talk to your Uncle Dean about it. He seems to be having some trouble in that area, recently."

Dean glared at his brother. "Do you really wanna be saying something like that right now, with all these weapons just lying around within easy reach?" he said. Then Dean looked at Rob again. "Ignore my brother. Bottom line is, we could never have talked to our dad this way. He would have just told us to sack up and suck it up."

"OK. Thanks, you guys," Rob said. Then he had left the room, presumably to look for Frank.

"I wonder if we got through to him," Sam mused.

Dean have him a half-shrug. "It's gonna take a while, probably," he told his brother. "I was the same way when I was his age. Mad all the time. He'll come around. He just has to mature a bit, like I did."

"You did? When?" Sam joked.

Dean made a face. "Once again, weapons, Sammy."

"You're just grouchy because you slept in our room last night, instead of Nicole's," Sam retorted.

Dean frowned, but he said nothing, mainly because Sam was right. Sam had come back to their hotel room in Hollywood in the middle of the night, and it hadn't taken a genius to figure out that he and Quinn had hooked up. But even though Nicole had let Dean into her room after the party and he had started the journey he'd been fantasizing about from her neck down to that one creamy shoulder, she'd halted him there.

"I'm sorry, Dean," Nicole had said apologetically. "I'm really not trying to be a ballbuster, here. I just need a bit more time. Maybe if we could spend a little more time together, I'd be able to feel closer to you. But I've got to go home tomorrow and pack for Italy, and we're probably going to be there for a while."

Dean had sighed heavily. "What do you want me to do, Nicole? Do you want another apology? What? If I could go back and do it over again, I'd tell Gail to tell you. But she and Sam thought they were doing the right thing. They didn't tell anybody what they were doing. They didn't even tell Cas, until he busted them."

"I know all that, Dean. You already told me that, and so did Cas." Nicole had smiled faintly at the remembrance. "He really cares about you, by the way. I thought he was going to start crying, when he was trying to convince me to forgive you."

Cas. He probably was about to cry, too, Dean thought warmly. But Dean thought that Nicole HAD forgiven him. She had sure been acting like she did. But the bottom line was that she had sent him back to his and Sammy's hotel room with his tail between his legs, promising to Skype him from Rome. He had never had to work this hard before with any woman. Was this what having a mature, committed relationship was like?

"Hand me those Demon knives," Sam said to his brother now. "I'll take a few out to the car. I want to check the trunk, anyway, and see what else we need."

Adrian had marshalled all his powers of concentration, picturing Fort Lauderdale in his mind. His father-and-mother-in-law lived there, in a beachfront house. He would start off relatively small, just to get their attention. Anthony liked to play golf; that was one reason his wife's father had moved to Florida. So Adrian began to visualize golf ball-sized hailstones, falling from the sky onto Anthony's house, and on the surrounding properties. Then, after about fifteen minutes, General Greene picked up his office phone and placed the call.

"How are you, Anthony?" Adrian said when Anthony answered the phone. "How's the weather down there?" He smiled. He could hear the thumping of the hailstones in the background.

"What do you want, Adrian?" Anthony barked into the phone.

Adrian's smile widened. Crotchety old bastard. In all these years, he hadn't changed a bit. Unfortunately. Anthony had told his daughter way back when that she would be on her own if she went ahead and married Adrian against his wishes, and then, he had made good on his threat and cut her out of his Will. And when Adrian had asked Anthony why, his wife's father had looked him in the eye and told Adrian that he was a useless sack of shit that would never amount to anything.

So here was Adrian now, the highest-ranking General in Special Ops, but the old man had never relented, and he had never apologized. And Sandra was still out of the Will. "I want you to put down the phone and go look outside, at the ocean. Then come back and tell me what you saw. Go ahead, Anthony. I'll wait," Adrian said affably. He heard the phone receiver drop, and now he could very distinctly hear the loud thumping sounds of the hail on the roof of the house. But Adrian had something way better in store for the old man and his hag of a wife. With any luck, the sight of what he was about to see would give Anthony the massive coronary he so richly deserved.

Anthony was angry, which was his usual reaction whenever Adrian called. Every now and then, his son-in-law would call to crow about one thing or another. How highly regarded he was in the Army. How he was in charge of a bunch of Top Secret projects. Blah, blah, blah. For a guy who claimed he didn't give a damn what his father-in-law thought of him, he'd sure spent a lot of time trying to change Anthony's mind. But Anthony's opinion of Sandra's husband would never change. Adrian was a slimy little weasel who had somehow conned Sandra into marrying him. There was something off about Adrian, something Anthony couldn't quite put his finger on.

Anthony went outside on the lanai and looked towards the ocean, as Adrian had requested. How could he not? Regardless of how he felt about the man personally, he couldn't deny the fact that Adrian was a highly-ranked General in the U.S. Army, and if he was telling Anthony to look, there must be something there to look at. So he opened the screen door and walked out onto the porch. Fortunately, there was an overhang, because the hail was falling fast and furious now. Big pieces of ice, bouncing off the roof and landing on the lawn. Strange for this late in the season, but not unheard of, even though this was Florida.

But when he looked out towards the ocean, Anthony's blood ran cold, and his heart skipped a couple of beats. He had to close his eyes tightly and then open them again, in case he was seeing things.

There was a huge tsunami suspended there, frozen in mid-air like the stop-action button on a recording. The hail continued to fall, and the wind whipped at the trees, bending them sideways. But unbelievably, the big wave was just hanging there, not moving. What in the holy hell was going on here?

Riley had been talking for the past half hour or so, and Cas had only heard about half of what his campaign manager had said. He'd told Cas about Patricia's visit; Cas remembered that, anyway. But Riley had emphasized that he didn't think she had come by the office for any other reason than to stir up trouble. Then, Riley had launched into poll numbers and statistics, and Cas's eyes had glazed over. He started to daydream about the acts he would like to perform if he were to win the election, or the suggestions he could make to Bobby, if Bobby did. Cas agreed with Gail that it was highly doubtful that his wife would win the election, although he would never voice that thought aloud to her, for fear of hurting her feelings.

Gail had been so wonderful the night of the movie premiere. The way she had helped bring Chuck's writings to Richard's attention was truly remarkable. Cas hoped that Richard would give Chuck the opportunity. And Gail had been very welcoming with Sam's and Dean's girlfriends, too. Cas had been happy to see the women all getting along as well as they had, and he was happy that his best friends now had ladies to care about in their lives. It was just too bad that Nicole wasn't able to be around more.

Then Cas's mind took him back to that evening after the party, when he and Gail had gotten back to their room.

"It's almost a shame that we have to get undressed," she had said, smiling. "We look so gorgeous together. I'm glad Jody took those pictures. I'm going to have the one of the two of us framed and put it in the living room. Probably the one of the whole group, too."

Cas had been happy to have their picture taken, as well. He was thinking that they should make up a photo album of their happiest moments: Las Vegas, Christmas, and their wedding, of course. He would make that suggestion after all of that election business was over. "Come here, please," he'd said to his wife, opening his arms. She walked into them and he kissed her on the mouth, using his tongue. "I've been wanting to do that all night," he said to her.

"I know. Me too," she'd agreed. "It's a good thing there were all those people around us in the movie theatre. Otherwise, we probably would have spent most of our time necking like teenagers and missed seeing the movie."

Cas smiled. "As much as I enjoyed the movie, I know which activity I prefer," he told her.

"Good response," Gail said. "But, as far as activities go, I think we can probably top that, don't you?"

"We certainly can," Cas murmured. He had backed her up to the bed by now. He sat down on the edge of the bed and drew her to him, lifting the gown up off of her head and letting it drop to the floor. Then he removed her bra and underpants, and unzipped his fly. "I think we'll start here," he said in a thick voice.

Gail sat on his lap and guided him into her. There was something so sexy about the two of them connecting so intimately while Cas was still fully dressed in his tuxedo. He obviously felt it too, because he was extremely excited now. She was kissing him with her tongue and his hands were on her hips, moving her up and down, creating that delightful friction.

"I love you," she said softly, and Cas moaned. He loved it when she said that to him. He nuzzled her breasts, flicking his tongue at her nipples as she held his head, running her fingers through his hair. Soon, his hair would be sticking up in all kinds of directions, and she would be teasing him about it.

Eventually, the tuxedo had come off, piece by piece, and she had requested him to lie down on his back so that she could kiss and lick his torso. Then she had taken him in her mouth, making him cry out. Later, he had done the same thing to her, and she had held his head in-between her legs, telling him how good it was. Then, when he'd held her afterwards, she had giggled, saying that someone should get a picture of him now, with his "sex hair". There wouldn't be one single female Angel who wouldn't vote for him if they could see him now, she had teased.

"So I think you're doing OK with the male voters, but I'm going to line up a few meet and greets with some of the womens' groups," Riley was saying now, as if reading Cas's thoughts. Cas smiled. He would have to tell Gail about what he'd been thinking, and what Riley had just said. Cas was sure she would find it very funny.

In fact, why wait? He stood from his desk. "Thank you for all of your hard work, Riley," he said. "I'm going to go see my wife now."

Riley sighed. He knew what the two of them were like, but he was thinking he would probably need to invest in a hardware store in order to get all the crowbars he would need to pry Cas and Gail apart during the course of the campaign. But at least Cas was agreeing to everything Riley had suggested, though. So his assistant supposed that regular visits with Gail were beneficial in that aspect. Clearly, a happy Cas was a cooperative Cas.

Gail had been having her own meeting with Liz when Cas entered her office. "Hello, Liz. How are you?" he greeted Gail's friend.

"I'm great, and I'm glad to see you," Liz said, smiling. "I need the man's point of view. How do you think Gail can reach more male voters? She's polling well with females, especially the younger ones. But the men seem skeptical about a female God, and the ones who are open-minded enough to go for a female are mostly going for Patricia, because of her years of service."

Cas nodded. That didn't particularly surprise him. He sat down beside Gail on the couch, taking her hand in his. "I've long felt that women are generally smarter than men, and there's our proof," he commented with a lazy smile. "And while I have mixed feelings about encouraging my wife to appeal to other men, I know what you mean," he joked in a gentle tone. As Liz rewarded him with her customary giggle, Cas looked at Gail and kissed her hand softly. "It's funny, though; Riley told me the opposite. He said I'm doing fine with the men, but I need to do better with the women."

"Are you sure that women are smarter, then?" Gail quipped. "I mean, have they SEEN you?"

"He wants me to give some speeches to women's groups," Cas said to his wife and her friend. "Actually, maybe the two of you can help me to figure out what I would say."

Liz smiled. "I'm not sure we should," she teased him. "Aren't you the opposition?"

"PATRICIA'S the opposition," Gail reminded her friend. "Cas and Bobby and I all have a pact. We're running a friendly campaign."

"I know, I know. Laurel told me that, too. I was only kidding," Liz said. She nodded in approval. "I was actually really happy to hear that. I think Riley's a little gung-ho, but that's just because he's got such a serious case of hero worship for you, Cas." Then she put a hand over her mouth. "Oops. I hope I didn't say something I shouldn't have. I tend to be pretty honest about stuff."

"No, that's all right," Cas said with a gentle smile. "I know what you mean about Riley. I've never seen him so...motivated."

Gail laughed. "That's one way to put it. 'Obsessed' might be another way, according to everything Liz has been telling me. But that's OK, considering that he only wants to help you. We can't possibly be upset with him about that."

Cas frowned. "I suppose not. Still, if you need his help with anything, Liz, don't hesitate to ask. And if he does not cooperate, let me know, and I will have a talk with him."

"I will, Cas, thanks," Liz said, rising from her seat on the other couch. "Hey, I'll tell you what. In the spirit of cooperation, I'll see if I can jot down a few things for you to talk to the women about. I was going to write a speech for Gail, anyway."

Both Cas and Gail thanked Liz, and she left the office. Gail turned to her husband. "I kind of feel like we're in over our heads with this election thing," she told him.

Cas smiled. "I know what you mean. Thank goodness we both have people who seem to know what they're doing. When Riley speaks, I just smile and nod, and that makes him happy."

Gail laughed again. "That's pretty much what I've been doing, too. When are you going to start up at the Academy?"

"In the next day or two, I think," Cas told her. "We settled on a class of 35 cadets. Apparently, there were a lot more who wanted to sign up, so we'll have to figure out the length of the semester. Then, when the first pupils are sufficiently trained, we can rotate others in. When are you going to start sitting the board again?"

"I might as well time it for when you start teaching," Gail told him. "I'm going to ask Laurel to fill Patricia's vacant seat. She's smart, and she's had some good ideas, from what Chuck has been telling me."

They talked for another couple of minutes, and then Cas's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket.

"Hello, Sam," Cas said.

"Cas, I think we've got a problem down here," the younger Winchester said.

"So, what do you think?" Adrian asked his father-in-law. "Pretty impressive, isn't it?"

"What the hell are you trying to pull?" Anthony said angrily. "What have your people done?"

"It's not my people, Tony, it's me," Adrian said cheerfully. "All me. I can control the weather now. I could obliterate you with a single thought. Maybe I will, and maybe I won't. That'll be up to you. I'll tell you what: if you tell me you're sorry for the way you've treated me for all these years and agree to put Sandra back in your Will, I'll stop."

"No one can control the weather," Anthony scoffed. "You're just using a meteorological anomaly to your advantage. Well, you can forget it. Hell will freeze over before I'll do what you're asking."

"Say hello to the Devil, then," Adrian snapped. He slammed down the phone and closed his eyes, picturing the tidal wave crashing down on the shore, and engulfing Fort Lauderdale.

Dean had CNN on the bunker's TV, and Sam was following the developments online. When Sam had first seen the reports of golf ball-sized hail in Florida and green, slushy water washing up on the beach, he and Dean had found it kind of funny. All those snowbirds going down there for the sun and sandy beaches, and the weather was worse down there than it was here.

"The only person who would like it there right now is Gail," Dean had joked. "Maybe Cas is doing it for her, so he can take her there on a vacation, or something."

Sam had laughed, but then, he had thought about that. Cas had the ability to affect the weather with his emotions in extreme cases, didn't he? Did he know something about this, maybe?

But it was just a little bit of hail and slush, and Cas had told the brothers that he and Gail had a lot to do in Heaven. So Sam had refrained from making the call, but he had asked Dean to put the news station on, and he was monitoring the situation on the computer. And when the news feed on his laptop and the broadcast on TV had both showed the pictures of that huge tsunami impossibly frozen in mid-swell just outside the city, Sam had made the call.

"What's the problem, Sam?" Cas asked their friend. He put his phone on Speaker and set it down on the coffee table in front of the couch so that Gail could hear.

Sam described what he and Dean were seeing. "Do you know anything about this, Cas?" Sam asked the Angel. "I know your moods have sometimes affected the weather."

"Not to the extent of what you're telling me about," Cas said, furrowing his brow. "And besides, I'm quite content at the moment."

"Hey, now they're saying that there are reports coming in about a terrorist calling from Nevada, holding the city hostage, or something," Dean called out from the background. "Sounds like a super-villain, from the movies."

Cas was thinking furiously now. What Sam was describing was impossible. Unless..."Nevada?!" he exclaimed. "Is that what Dean said?"

Gail was looking closely at her husband. Cas had a funny look on his face now. "Do you know something about this?" she asked him.

Cas was starting to have the sinking feeling that he might. "We'll be right there," he told Sam. He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. Then he winked himself and Gail to the bunker.

Agent Redding hung up his cell phone and went back inside the surveillance van. He'd told his partner that he was stepping out for a smoke, and his partner had looked at him incredulously. In the hail? he'd said. No, of course not, Redding had replied. He was going to run over to the store across the street and have his smoke under the overhang. So a couple of hailstones would bounce off of him on his way over there. So what? He'd been hit with rubber bullets in training before, and he was sure the feeling wouldn't be much different. But after the shock of what they'd just heard, he needed a cigarette.

The Special Agents had been sitting in that same van several blocks away from Anthony Linden's beachfront house for about a week now. The FBI had finally received the court's permission to wiretap Linden's phone after producing pictures that had been taken of him and a couple of highly connected mobsters on the golf course. Linden was loaded, but try as they might, the Feds hadn't been able to find out where his immense wealth came from. Luckily, he was an older man who was suspicious of technology, so when he and his wife had gone out to the country club one evening, the Special Agents had slipped into their house and planted a bug in the receiver of his living room, bedroom and kitchen telephones, all of which were landlines, of course. Then they had parked the van in the neighbourhood, but not too close, just like in the movies. They had been hoping to hear a conversation or two about racketeering, but what they'd gotten was science fiction, and horror.

Agent Redding felt the latter emotion in spades now, as he glanced out towards the ocean before getting back in the van. That was what the cigarette excuse had really been all about. He'd called a reporter friend of his and told him to tell CNN about the threat. Normally, of course, Redding would never divulge anything revealed during an investigation. But this time, it was different. Peoples' lives were at stake. He wasn't sure exactly what good, if any, his call was going to do. But he'd had to try.

And because Agent Redding had let his friend know that the caller was from Nevada, that fact had enabled Cas to make the connection. Unfortunately, it was already too late.

Cas and Gail popped into the bunker. "Oh, man, you've gotta see this," Dean had told them, in a tone that was half-terror, half-fascination. The Angels went over to look at the TV. There was a news helicopter flying over Fort Lauderdale, capturing footage of the storm. And sure enough, there was the big tidal wave, suspended in the air.

"What the hell?!" Gail exclaimed. "That's impossible!"

Cas's heart was in the pit of his stomach now. Unfortunately, she was wrong; it was entirely possible. He was calling out to Gabriel now, sending out a message for the Archangel to come right away. But so far, no response.

He was debating with himself whether or not to share his suspicions with the others. But as of now, Cas had no proof. However, it was just too coincidental. He opened his mouth to speak, to tell them what he'd been thinking. But suddenly, the tsunami came crashing down, engulfing the city.

"Holy crap," Dean breathed, shocked.

"We've got to get down there, and see if we can help," Cas said immediately.

"Hang on, we'll go with you," Sam said quickly. "Just give us a minute, to grab some weapons."

Cas looked at him, puzzled. "Weapons? Against weather?" the Angel inquired.

"Those are ocean waters, Cas," Sam explained, frowning. "The weapons aren't for the water. They're for what's gonna be in that water." He and Dean raced down the hall and grabbed some guns, knives, and a sword, just for good measure. Then they raced back to the library, and Cas and Gail winked them all to Florida.

Gabriel had heard Castiel's call, of course, and he knew that it had come from the bunker. What the hell had Heckle and Jeckle done now? Gabriel rolled his eyes. He didn't particularly care at the moment. Gabe had been running himself ragged, following Raguel around to practically every corner of the world.

It had taken a while, but Gabriel had finally figured out what Raguel had been doing. Or, trying to do. The guy was going to the locations of the original Seven Wonders of the World. Or, at least, to the countries where those items used to be. Boy, was Raguel barking up the wrong tree there, in Gabriel's not-so-humble opinion. The Seven Wonders were all gone now, all except for the Pyramid at Giza, in Egypt. And Sam thought Gabriel was the one who needed to update his references.

So now, Raguel was back in the States, and Gabriel was still watching him intently. Because now, Raguel had gone to a hotel bar in Lebanon, Kansas. Why the hell would he go there, of all places? There was no way its proximity to the bunker and to Castiel's own Earthly home was merely a coincidence.

Gabriel kept himself invisible as he watched Raguel sit down and order a drink. Then, a few minutes later, a small but stunningly gorgeous woman with flaming red hair cascading down her back joined Raguel at his table.

As Gabriel continued to watch, Raguel snapped his fingers for the waiter to bring his companion a drink. Gabriel wondered who the woman could be. He could tell that she was an ancient being, of course, but Gabe had never seen her before. But, he'd been out of commission for a few years, when he was being held captive in Area 51. He had to get closer, to hear what they were saying. The only problem was, shielded or not, Gabriel had the funny feeling that Raguel knew very well that he was there. His fellow Archangel kept looking around the room with his head held high, almost as if he was looking for whoever he was sensing. Or maybe he was just being a stuck-up dick. Every Archangel that Gabriel had ever met had always had his nose in the air, probably so he wouldn't have to look down at any of the riff-raff.

Gabriel started to edge closer to the table.

Raguel knew exactly who was watching him and Rowena, of course, and he was amused. Did Gabriel really think his pathetic attempt at shielding was working? For a fellow Archangel, Gabriel's powers certainly left a lot to be desired. But his Brother had always been a slacker by reputation. Raguel might have tried to recruit Gabriel to help obtain the Books if he'd thought that Gabriel could focus his mind on the task at hand for more than five minutes. But Gabriel was far too capricious, and he liked his Earthly pleasures too much. It was the same with Castiel. Some apples didn't fall too far from the tree, Raguel supposed. Once God the Father had created the human race to inhabit the Earth, He had fallen in love with His pets, and His real children had suffered from His neglect. Was it any wonder that most if not all of the Archangels and the elite of Heaven resented humans so much? The former were by far the superior species, yet God had mostly abandoned them, preferring to play with His new toys. Oh well, no matter. Father was retired now, and soon, Heaven would have a new ruler. But whoever ended up in charge there would likely be more of a figurehead than a real threat. Raguel had more powers in his little finger than any Angel did; even Gabriel, or Castiel. So Raguel wasn't too concerned about that. Even if Castiel did take the helm, Raguel was sure that his Brother would be much more preoccupied with his darling little Angel wife and his precious humans to pay much attention to what Raguel was doing. That was, until it was too late.

But all Raguel was doing now was having a drink with a very fetching and intriguing woman, and Gabriel was free to listen all he liked.

"How is it that you know of me?" Rowena asked Raguel now. She was trying to take Raguel's measure. He certainly didn't strike her as a typical Angel. She could tell right off the bat that he was much more powerful than that, and power had always attracted her. It was too bad that his type of power came in such an unattractive package, though. Raguel was gaunt, his nose was long and crooked, and the expression on his face resembled that of a person who had been sucking on a lemon for centuries.

"Both Luke and Raphael spoke highly of you," Raguel responded, and Rowena looked at him in surprise. Raguel smiled, but that didn't improve his countenance any. In fact, the smile almost made it worse. But in any event, the expression of amusement left his face almost as soon as it had arrived, as if it knew it had no business being there. There was absolutely nothing amusing about this man. "I have my sources," he told her. "I know who you are, and I know what you are. I was wondering if you might be of some use to me."

Rowena regarded him coolly. "Well, if you think you know me, then you'll know that I do not exist to serve men. In fact, it's usually the other way around."

Raguel said nothing for a moment. He just looked at her calmly. He would expect no less of an answer from her. "Yet, you helped Luke by enchanting the mirror in his home, enabling him and Matthew to communicate between realms, face to face," he said at last.

Rowena shrugged. "I didn't say I wasn't willing to help out a friend from time to time."

"A friend?" Raguel said, eyebrows raised. "It's strange; I wouldn't think a man like him would have interested a woman such as yourself."

Rowena took a sip of her drink. And just what was THAT supposed to mean? But she'd better not trifle with this one. She could feel the power emanating from him now, in waves. It seemed to grow stronger when he was angry. It was all the same with these Alpha males, really, and it was ironic. The very thing that attracted her to these men was also the quality that repelled her. But if Raguel thought that he was going to intimidate her, he thought wrong.

So she shrugged again. "I find it pays to have friends in all kinds of places," she told him.

Raguel inclined his head in acknowledgement. "I cannot dispute that statement," he said, but then he gave her a sly look. "Therefore, I find it odd that you have managed to make enemies in just as many places. Your own son, the King of Hell, wants you dead, and you have an ongoing feud with two Angels, one of whom may be elected to the High Office in Heaven soon. It seems to me that you may need all the friends you can get."

Rowena was silent. This man knew a little bit too much about her for her liking. Especially since she knew next to nothing about him. She could intuit a little, though. "Oh? And who are your friends, then?" she asked him tartly.

"I don't need friends," Raguel responded arrogantly, sitting back in his chair. "Nor am I especially interested in acquiring enemies. Don't start a vendetta if you are unable or unwilling to follow through on it, my dear."

Now, Rowena was fuming. The nerve of him. The problem was, he was right. Her hatred of Crowley was no secret, but Rowena was unable to do anything to harm the King of Hell, and they both knew it. And as for Castiel and Gail, as long as they had Heaven's protection, she would be unable to touch them. And Heaven help her, so to speak, if either of them were elected God, and decided that the Earth needed one less witch on it.

"Buy me another drink, and we'll talk," she said to the Archangel.

Patricia's people had also conducted some polls, and the results were troubling. She was at her desk reviewing the numbers now, and as the expression went, the numbers didn't lie. Castiel had a formidable lead, and Gail was doing surprisingly well, also. Were Heaven's Angels blind? Apparently so. They didn't seem to realize the type of people the couple were. It would have to be made apparent to them.

A tap on her door. "Come in," Patricia said.

"You wanted to see us?" Pamela said. She and her brother entered Patricia's office, closing the door behind them.

"Yes. Have a seat, please, both of you," Patricia invited the young man and woman. "I think it's time we act upon what we discussed earlier in the week."

Pamela and Scott looked at each other and smiled. They sat down in the chairs opposite Patricia's desk, looking at her expectantly.

"You've been accepted into the Academy, Pamela?" Patricia asked the young female.

"Yes, and I'm really looking forward to it," Pamela replied. She was, too. The young Angel was fully committed to Patricia as her candidate, but Pamela was frankly very curious about Castiel. She had caught a glimpse of him once, and she had heard many stories about him. As soon as the application forms had become available, Pamela had rushed to get hers filled out. And when she'd been informed that there had been so many applicants that they were going to choose the first 35 students by lottery, Pamela had flattered and flirted with Riley, convincing him to select hers as one of the first.

Patricia was looking at Pamela. The young girl's face was an open book. She was one of the many females who was interested in Castiel because of his good looks, his bearing, and his reputation. But in this instance, Patricia intended to exploit Pamela's fascination.

"You'll make a very good student," Patricia encouraged the girl. "I expect that you will be one of his favourites. Make sure you don't learn too quickly, though. The more times you have to stay alone with him after class, the better." Yes, especially if Gail happens to walk in unexpectedly, Patricia thought. She and Pamela exchanged looks of understanding. Just how close Pamela intended to get to Castiel wasn't clear, but Patricia didn't really care. She simply wanted a mole in Castiel's camp, at this point. But if young Pamela could drive a wedge between Castiel and his wife, so much the better, as far as Patricia was concerned.

And speaking of which...Patricia turned to Scott now. "Have you joined Gail's campaign team yet?"

"I'm heading there after this," Scott said affably. "I'll tell her campaign manager, Liz, that I can help Gail with the male vote. She'll buy it. Liz is one of those people who believes that everybody is innately good. She wouldn't ever believe that anyone could have an ulterior motive for anything. So I'll work there, make myself indispensable, and before you know it, I'll be Gail's right hand. She won't make a move without checking with me, first." He smiled at his sister again. The siblings had always been competitive with each other. They had even become Angels at the same moment because of that trait. They had jumped into the expensive cars their father had bought them one night, just for the hell of it, and decided to race each other across town. But that was one contest that had never had a resolution. Well, unless you could count two chunks of twisted metal and a couple of dead bodies a resolution, that was. So Scott and Pamela were here together, as Angels, now. But they were a duo who wouldn't have passed a more rigorous screening process. Had they been able to continue living, the brother and sister would probably have messed up a lot of lives on Earth. They had been raised in a life of privilege; therefore, they had lived their existences under an extreme sense of entitlement, which continued even now. Whenever they wanted something, they expected to get it. So, when Patricia had begun to feel them out to see if she could recruit them as spies, both of the young Angels had been more than open to the idea. And, because they were so competitive with each other, they had already made a side bet: whichever of the two of them was successful in bringing about the ruin of their targets first would be able to tell the other one what to do for an entire month. Hell, there was nothing much else to do here in Heaven, as far as entertainment went. You had to take your fun where you could get it.

"Good," Patricia said to Scott. "The both of you will report your findings to me, either directly or indirectly. Castiel and Gail may be repugnant individuals, but they are not stupid. We don't want them finding out what your true motives are for spending time with them."

"Don't worry, they won't," Scott said confidently.

"That's right. They won't have any idea how we really feel about them," Pamela said disdainfully. Of course, she didn't necessarily have any negative feelings towards Castiel; at least, not yet. Pamela hadn't decided how she was going to feel about him. But she was going to win the bet, because Pamela knew the kinds of things that men liked to hear.

Patricia dismissed the pair, and Scott made sure to pull the chair out for his sister when she stood, and to open the door for her to exit. He knew he was going to win the bet, because Scott knew how women liked to be treated, and because he could lay on the charm as thick as he needed to, when he needed to.

Patricia looked at the poll numbers again for a few minutes after the siblings had left her office. She had the feeling that, if Pamela and Scott were as good as they seemed to think they were, the numbers she was looking at would be changing, very soon.

"I have some good news," the mail guy said to Thane. "Unfortunately, I also have some bad news. It's about that journal that you asked me to find."

Thane sighed. That stupid journal. Sam had called him yesterday to follow up, and he'd sounded really pissed off when Thane had reported that there had been no news of its discovery. "What about it?"

"The good news is, I found it. Well, part of it, anyway."

"What do you mean, part of it?" Thane said gruffly.

"Hey, it's an old book," the mail sorter said defensively. "I guess it got shifted around a bit in the evidence room, and the pages came loose from the binding. The guy who does the inventory picked up a bunch of loose pages from the floor and tossed them in different boxes, and the boxes went to different places in the room."

Thane rolled his eyes. "Great. Sam Winchester entrusted me with that book. What am I supposed to tell him now?"

"I thought you might feel that way. And, since this is kind of my fault, I wanted to make it up to you. So I ran the pages over to Forensics myself, and had them un-redacted. So at least you can bring him some clean pages and tell him I'm spending almost all of my breaks searching that room for the rest of them. The guy who runs the room can't remember where he put those other pages. Not very organized, is he?"

Thane gritted his teeth in frustration. "All right, fine. Bring me the pages you have, and I'll let him know that at least we have something for him." He hung up the phone.

The mail sorter folded the pages and put them in his pocket. He didn't know what Thane was getting so bent out of shape about. What was on these pages didn't seem exactly earth-shattering; at least, as far as he had bothered to read, which wasn't very far. It seemed to be a story about three brothers: Oliver, Vincent, and Andy. The writer of the journal was the oldest brother, Oliver. He had an ex-wife named Cathy, and he was estranged from his other two brothers. That was about as far as the mail guy had gotten. Yawn. Not exactly a page-turner. He left the mail room to make his way to Thane's office.

At the Time of the Beginning, there had been the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But now, there was a new Trinity: Vincent, Raguel, and Ammit. All three entities had the same agenda. They wanted to get their hands on the Book of Life, and the Book of the Dead.

Ammit was a Demon Goddess, an ancient being who was also a soul-eater. She devoured souls that were stained in some way. She favoured using the name "Timma" when she made her forays to Earth, impersonating humans for her own purposes. If she chose to eat someone's heart, that person's soul would be restless forever. When Ammit had infiltrated Lucifer's compound to find out if he or any of his lieutenants knew where the Books could be found, she'd had one of his more sadistic followers brand the letters "REV" on the back of her neck with a hot iron, at the same time as his penis had been invading her from the back. Getting the tattoo had hurt her vessel, but she'd felt that it was necessary to have at the time, so that Lucifer would not be suspicious of her presence. There had been very few females in his camp, and she'd had to make sure that Satan thought she was merely a devotee. And indeed, when she had come to his bed and he had told her to get on all fours, entering her the same way as her brander had, she had flipped the hair back from her neck and shown him the tattoo, and Lucifer had become even more excited. Imagine how that must have hurt. She must really be devoted to him. Then she'd told him what she and that biker had been doing when she'd received the tattoo, and how much it excited her to be proving her faithfulness to the Master now, and then Lucifer had finished, grinning all the while. Ammit couldn't see his face, of course, but she'd known that, all the same. Men were all alike, weren't they?

Ammit had the ability to morph into anyone, but she generally chose the form of a beautiful, buxom female. She was innately female, so that was the gender with which she identified the most. And much of her time and efforts were spent trying to worm information out of men, and men were usually only interested in one thing. It would have been debasing, if Ammit allowed it to be so. But she was able to turn that fact on its head, and make it become about empowerment. Men could only make you feel denigrated with your permission. Since she thought more of herself than that, what did it matter if a man wanted to put something in one of her vessel's orifices every now and then? She cared little, one way or the other. But the tattoo had been an unfortunate error in judgement. Now, whenever she transformed into someone else, it remained on the back of the neck of whatever vessel she chose to inhabit. It was a shame, but it wasn't the end of the world. Lucifer was gone now, and the "Rev" was just a footnote.

So Lucifer was indeed gone, but Ammit was still here, and here she intended to remain. She had pulled herself up through the ranks, and now, she was the Unholy Spirit who was in charge of the Lake of Fire. She was the one who cast unworthy souls in there, and with every soul she threw in, her power grew. But Ammit was still hungry. There was no such thing as a glass ceiling in her universe, and she had her eye on the most influential position there was: Ammit aspired to be the new Death. For too long, the ancient entity who currently held that position had let himself be swayed by a sob story and a good beef stroganoff. For a man who claimed to be devoid of emotion, Death had become way too soft-hearted. He'd had the opportunity to reap some of the most powerful souls that existed, and except for a few secondary players, they all still remained. Ammit was a much better judge of worthiness than Death, yet she was relegated to eating his leftovers. Well, no more. After she got her hands on those Books, she would first use them to obliterate Death, and then she would take his place.

Raguel and Rowena had conversed for a while longer, and the Archangel was still on the fence about whether he could use her services or not. Rowena had many talents, but she was the type of person who could never really be trusted. It wouldn't surprise Raguel one bit if she suddenly leapt across the table and clawed his eyes out, just from sheer spite. Actually, come to think of it, that sort of assault might be a little bit surprising. Her attack would be more insidious, something he would never see coming. When he walked away from the table, he'd better not turn his back on her. Otherwise, he was liable to feel an Angel blade between his shoulders, and while that alone couldn't kill him because he was an Archangel, it would certainly be inconvenient if she cut his throat with it, releasing his essence.

"I'm sure I will be seeing you again, probably sooner, rather than later," God's disgruntled son said to the witch. He stood from his chair, offered her a small bow, and then strode out of the bar.

While Rowena sat there trying to figure out what all of that had been all about, Gabriel was trying to do the same. An Archangel conspiring with an ancient witch who just happened to be the mother of the King of Hell to acquire the two Books that were the key to it all? Oh, yeah, that could only be good, right?

Gabriel called Castiel, but now Castiel was the one who wasn't answering. Should Gabe go to Heaven to try to find him, or the bunker, maybe? Or should he continue to follow Raguel, to see what he would do next?

Gabriel followed Raguel out of the bar.

The third part of the Trinity, the Father, was Vincent, of course. And he was the Father in every sense of the word. He was the most evil, and the most powerful, of all three of the entities who sought the Books.

Vincent's beginnings on this Earth had been very inauspicious. Born to middle-class parents in the Pacific Northwest, he was the middle child of three sons. Oliver was the oldest, and he had been blessed with the gift of Second Sight. Conversely, Andrew, who was the youngest, had been afflicted with mental issues. Andy heard voices in his head, some of which belonged to actual individuals and some of which didn't, and as he grew older, it had gotten harder and harder to distinguish between the two. And the middle child, Vincent? There had been absolutely nothing remarkable about him. Nothing at all. His brothers had both required special care and feeding, while Vincent had been all but invisible. And if a person was that ordinary, did they even exist at all?

This state of being had its advantages, though, especially for a child. Vincent had found that no matter what vile, abhorrent thoughts he had in his head, no one had suspected a thing. When he was a boy, he would perpetrate all kinds of things at home, just to see if he could get away with them. Once, he had trashed the family room when his parents were out, just thoroughly destroyed it. Broken everything, taken a butcher knife to the furniture, smashed glass, and thrown food on the walls and on the ceiling. And when his parents had come home, Vincent had told them that Oliver had done it, because the Ouija board that Oliver played with all the time had told him to. Their parents had believed Vincent, and Vincent had successfully convinced Oliver that he had been in a trance when he'd done it. Even back then, back before he'd learned The Secret, Vincent had had the hypnotic eyes, and the powers of persuasion.

Another time, Vincent had cut school and gone into his neighbours' back yard. They kept their dog tied up there all day while they were at work, and the stupid thing never quit barking. Drove Vincent nuts. So he untied it, played with it for a few minutes, and then slit its throat. He'd caught the blood in a bucket and splashed it all over the front door and sidewalk in front of the house, just to get the neighbours' attention. That was the first time he had ever tasted warm, fresh blood. He'd been overwhelmed by curiosity, so he'd dipped a couple of fingers in the bucket and tried it. It was sticky, and it tasted a little bit strange, but there was something oddly comforting about it, too. Years later, he would learn all about the importance of fresh blood in certain rituals, but at that time, it had just been idle curiosity.

Then, Vincent had gone home, cleaned up, and waited for Andy to wake up from his nap. At that point, his younger brother was being kept out of school because the voices made it too difficult for him to concentrate. But Andy was as docile as a lamb, so their parents let him stay home alone while they were at work. Andy liked his routine. He would get up in the morning and eat some cereal, read or play a game for a few hours, help his mother by doing laundry or cleaning up around the house, have lunch, putter around some more, and then take a nap until his family started to arrive back home. So when Vincent lost his patience and awoke Andy early from his nap, put some dogs' blood on his brother's face and hands and told him that he'd done it, Andy had been horrified. Why would the voices have told Andy to kill the neighbours' dog? Yes, it had driven all of them crazy with its constant barking, but...was he really THAT crazy?

A short while later, when the rest of their family had come home and the screaming had begun from across the street, Andy had come downstairs to confess to them what he had done and begged his parents to commit him. He hadn't cleaned the blood from himself; sensing they might need a little convincing, he had thrust his bloody hands towards his mother, as if in condemnation. Look what they had let him become, all because they hadn't wanted the stigma of having a crazy son. Now, look at what had happened.

The entire time this was going on, Vincent had watched impassively. It was just as well. This was no kind of life for Andy, anyway. And it was safer for Vincent, too. Before everyone had come home, Andy had looked at his brother and said, "I know what you are, you know. You're pure evil. One of your children will rise up against you." That had been a rare lucid moment for Andy, one that Vincent didn't want to see repeated. Better Andy should be locked away, forever.

Oliver had been staring at Vincent during that whole thing, but wisely, his older brother had said nothing. If he wanted to live, he would continue to keep his big mouth shut, too. And Oliver had, for years and years afterwards. But he had kept a journal, unburdening himself in fits and spurts by writing it all down. Then, he had redacted it. But the FBI had technology which could overcome that, and the first few pieces of the puzzle had already been revealed. And if the guy in the mail room had bothered to keep reading, he would have read about these horrifying incidents, and more. The story that Oliver's journal outlined was scarier than any horror novel, mainly because every word of it was true. Oliver may not remember any of it at the moment, but his pen had recorded it all.

Stu would have been fascinated by the numbers. Three brothers: Oliver, Vincent, and Andy. See Evil, Do Evil, Hear Evil. Three members of an Unholy Trinity: a Demon Goddess, a disgraced Archangel, and a sociopathic, amoral Voodoo High Priest, who had stumbled upon the secret to immortality. All three of the Trinity were vying, independently of each other, for two Books that, if used to their full potential, could change everything.

And, finally, two humans and two Angels, in the middle of the storm.

\- END OF BOOK 27. -


End file.
